Coffee tycoon found dead, cremated

Billionaire coffee tycoon V G Siddhartha, whose body was fished out of a river two days after he went missing, was Wednesday cremated at his estate in his home district of Chikmagalur after hundreds of people paid a tearful adieu to him.

Amid a sombre atmosphere, his son Amartya lit the funeral pyre after the last rites were performed according to the traditions of the Vokkaliga community from which he hailed, in the presence of a large number of people.

Poignant scenes were witnessed as Amartya broke down several times while performing the rituals.

87-year-old former Chief Minister S M Krishna, father-in-law of Siddhartha and his wife Prema too fought hard to control their emotions.

A police official said "everything" points to suicide, but nothing can be ruled out until the investigation is over.

Siddhartha, whose chain of cafes helped make coffee a lifestyle beverage and brought in latte, cappuccino, Americano and espresso into the urban Indian lexicon, was 59. He is survived by his wife Malavika and two sons,Amartya and Ishaan.

His body was identified by his friends, said Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil.

The remains of Siddhartha was traced after 36 hours of an intensive search operation with a letter allegedly written by him to the Board of Directors and employees of his company Coffee Day Enterprises, showing he was struggling with financial problems due to debt, taxes and share buy backs.

The search involved multiple agencies, which scoured the waters under a bridge across Nethravathi, where Siddhartha, founder of India's largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day, was reportedly last seen on Monday night, officials said.

After the post-mortem at Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru, the body was taken to Siddhartha's home district of Chikmagalur
Reacting to Siddhartha's death, the Karnataka Congress said on Twitter, "Result of harassment by IT officials and decline of India's entrepreneurial position turning virulent by the day, with Tax Terror & collapse of economy."