Mangaluru: Police team formed to probe VG Siddhartha's death
Mangaluru, Aug 1: A police team has been constituted to probe the death of Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha, Mangaluru police commissioner Sandeep Patil said Thursday.
The team will be headed by assistant commissioner of police (Mangaluru south sub-division), T Kodandaram.
"We are waiting for the post-mortem report which will make it clear how the death happened," Patil told reporters at Mangaluru.
A police team that left for Bengaluru earlier had questioned the executives and employees of the company and gathered a lot of information, he said.
"In the coming days also, we will question some other people too," he added.
Two mobile phones were seized, which the police were analysing, Patil said, adding one was found with Siddhartha, while the other was in the late business man's car.
The billionaire coffee tycoon, who was the son-in-law of former chief minister S M Krishna, had gone missing since Monday night from near the Netravati bridge at Ullala in Dakshina Kannada district.
After a frantic search by multiple government agencies, his body was fished out Wednesday morning and was later cremated at his estate in his home district of Chikmagalur.
In a letter, purportedly written by him to the Board of Directors and employees of Coffee Day Enterprises, Siddhartha complained about "a lot of harassment" from the previous DG Income Tax.
The IT department has refuted the charges.
The death of 59-year-old Siddhartha, who police say appears to have committed suicide by jumping into the river near Mangaluru on Monday, left numb the business world as theories swirled over why the founder of the Cafe Coffee Day chain would have taken his life, ranging from harassment from tax authorities to possible undisclosed debt.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
