Siddhartha's disappearance: People throng Krishna's residence

People from all walks of life made a beeline to former Chief Minister and BJP leader S M Krishna's residence here Tuesday to express solidarity with the family, which is in a state of shock after his son-in-law, Caf Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha, went missing.

The tranquil Sadashivanagar, home to Bengaluru's who's who,was packed with vehicles as prominent politicians from thestate turned up to express support and solidarity with members of the two families.

Siddhartha, aged around 60, was last seen near a bridge across the Netravati river in the Kotepura area in Dakshina Kannada district on Monday night.

As search operations commenced from early morning, senior politicians such as former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, former opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, chief minister B S Yediyurappa , former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah visited Krishna's residence, 'Shambhavi'.

Siddhartha had left from Bengaluru to Sakleshpur in Hassan district Monday afternoon, but on the way he had asked his driver to go towards Mangaluru, according to the police.

Siddhartha reportedly directed his driver Basavaraj Patil to drive towards Mangaluru, his family sources said.

At a bridge near Ullala, he got down from the car, asked the driver to wait, walked towards the bridge and never returned.

Family sources said Patil panicked when he did not spot Siddhartha and called his phone several times but it wasswitched-off.

Soon, he called Siddhartha's son Amartya but he advised him not to panic and asked him to wait for a while. However, when there was no response, he finally lodged acomplaint with the police, the sources said.

Neighbours and relatives too queued up to express solidarity with the two families.

"The former chief minister tried to put up a brave front but at times he too broke down," a Congress leader told PTI.

Teams of National Disaster Response Force, Coast Guard, Home Guard, fire services and coastal police are scouring the waters under a bridge across the swollen Nethravathi,where Siddhartha was reportedly last seen.