Mangaluru, Aug 27: 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.

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Bhubaneswar (PTI): Heatwave conditions scorched Odisha on Tuesday, with the IMD forecasting that hot and humid conditions would continue in parts of the state.

The IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre said Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati districts were likely to experience hot and humid conditions on April 22.

It also predicted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty surface winds in parts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput, among others.

On Tuesday, 18 places across Odisha recorded maximum temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or above. The industrial town of Jharsuguda was the hottest in the state at 43.6 degrees Celsius.

Sambalpur and Titlagarh recorded 42.5 degrees Celsius each, followed by Hirakud at 42.4 degrees, Bolangir at 42.2 degrees and Angul at 42.1 degrees.

The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack recorded 37.9 degrees Celsius and 38.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, with relative humidity levels remaining above 70 per cent.

Meanwhile, the state government directed all district education officers to conduct a Summer Learning Programme for students till class 8 in government schools during the summer vacation.

Officials said students would be given practice assignments along with audio-visual learning content.

Subject-wise assignment sheets have been prepared, while related digital material will be shared through school parents' WhatsApp groups using a chatbot system, they said.