FSL report confirms Siddhartha had committed suicide

Team Udayavani, Aug 26, 2019, 8:10 AM IST

Mangaluru: With the final forensic report confirming Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha’s death was suicide, the city police investigating the case has begun the second phase of the probe to find out the exact reason that forced the business magnate to take the extreme step.

The Police team was examining the letter written by Siddhartha before he ended his life last month, which can lead to obtaining definite clues on the reasons for the suicide, police sources said.

Mangaluru Police Commissioner P S Harsha had on Monday said the final Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report received by the police corroborated the suicide theory.

Police sources said the officials were also collecting information about his family life, business dealings, loans, shares and details of bank accounts.

They will also look into notices served on Siddhartha by the Income Tax and other departments and whether he was under pressure dealing with tax authorities, the sources added.

Siddhartha, who ran the hugely successful cafe chain that helped make coffee a lifestyle beverage in the country, had gone missing from the Netravati river bridge near Ullal in Mangaluru on July 29 evening.

He had asked his driver to stop on a bridge while driving toward here and asked him to wait for him as he walked on the bridge alone. Two days later, his body was found floating in the river.