CCD promoter Siddhartha's disappearance case: Police team leaves for Bengaluru
Mangaluru, Jul 30: As mystery shrouds Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha's disappearance, Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil Tuesday said a police team has left for Bengaluru to conduct an inquiry and question office staff and relatives.
Asked about the letter purportedly written by Siddhartha to the Board of Directors, the commissioner told reporters "Siddhartha's family gave us the letter, so it has to be genuine.
We are inquiring into its contents also, for which a team has gone to Bengaluru," Patil said as the search for the businessman continued.
Patil said the team that has gone to Bengaluru will conduct an inquiry of the office staff and relatives and gather all information.
"A detailed technical investigation is also going on," he said.
Siddhartha had left from Bengaluru to Sakleshpur in Hassan district on Monday afternoon, but he asked his driver to turn towards Mangaluru on the way, according to police.
He was last seen near a bridge on Netravati river in Dakshina Kannada district on Monday night.
He had told his driver he was going for a walk near the bridge, police said.
"He (Siddhartha) asked the driver to wait till his arrival. When he did not return even after two hours, the driver approached the police and lodged a missing complaint," Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district Senthil Sasikant Senthil earlier said.
Patil said the police were questioning a fisherman who claimed that he saw someone jumping from the bridge.
Search operations were on at the place identified by the fisherman, he said.
Call Detail Records were also under scrutiny, Patil added.
In the unverified letter, widely circulated in the social media, Siddhartha alleged there was a lot of harassment from the previous DG of the Income Tax Department in the form of attaching "our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although revised returns have been filed by us (sic)".
"This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch," the letter, bearing a purported signature of Siddhartha, said.
The department has refuted the charges.
"I have failed as an entrepreneur."
"...I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts," Siddhartha, who built the coffee empire over the last 37 years, said in the letter.
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Cricketer Rinku Singh's father passes away after prolonged illness
Aligarh/Noid (PTI): Indian cricketer Rinku Singh's father, Khanchand Singh, passed away at a hospital in Greater Noida early Friday following a prolonged illness, family sources said.
Dr. Sunil Kumar, spokesperson of Yatharth Hospital in Greater Noida, where the cricketer's father was admitted, said Khanchand Singh was battling liver cancer.
"His condition had deteriorated significantly in recent days, following which he had been admitted to the hospital on February 21. He was placed on ventilator support and breathed his last early this morning," Kumar said.
Due to his father's critical condition, Rinku had to return home midway through the T20 World Cup. However, he rejoined the Indian team ahead of the match against Zimbabwe on February 26. He had also recently visited Noida to meet his father.
Rinku's former coach, Masood Amini, told PTI Videos in Aligarh that Khanchand Singh had been battling advanced-stage liver cancer and was in the terminal phase of the illness.
"He had been unwell for quite some time. He was suffering from liver cancer. For the past three to four days, he was on ventilator support," Amini said.
Amini said Rinku's father worked tirelessly to support his family and educate his children.
"He started out working as a gas cylinder delivery man and worked very hard to raise his family," he said.
The 28-year-old cricketer, a resident of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, credits much of his success to his father. Khanchand Singh, who worked in gas cylinder distribution in Aligarh, supported his son's dream of becoming a cricketer despitefacing financial hardships.
The family said Khanchand Singh's last rites will be performed in Aligarh, and Rinku will attend the funeral.
