CCD founder VG Siddhartha's death result of I-T harassment, tax terror: Karnataka Congress

As India Inc grapples with the shocking death of Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha under mysterious circumstances, Karnataka Congress has hit out at the Narendra Modi government for policy of ‘tax terror’. Even as the state Congress condoled the death of the industry captain, the party said that the tragedy was a result of the harassment by the income tax officials. “#VGSiddhartha case is very unfortunate. Result of harassment by IT officials & decline of India’s entrepreneurial position turning virulent by the day, with Tax Terror & collapse of economy Companies which flourished under UPA have been shut down with many people being jobless,” the tweet by the Karnataka Congress read.

#VGSiddhartha case is very unfortunate.

Result of harassment by IT officials & decline of India’s entrepreneurial position turning virulent by the day, with Tax Terror & collapse of economy

Companies which flourished under UPA have been shut down with many people being jobless pic.twitter.com/rbwUymoM3B

— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) July 31, 2019

VG Siddhartha’s decomposed body was recovered from Dakshina Kannada district’s Netravati river in early morning hours on Wednesday. It brought an end to the 36-hour long operation that involved NDRF, Coast Guard etc. After initial doubt, the family and friends of the CCD founder confirmed that it was his body. The body was floating in the river and the decomposed state point to the fact that it in the river for entire night.

Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda also took to Twitter to express his condolences. "I am shocked by the demise of V G Siddhartha. He was a very simple man. I knew him for the past 35 years. He had paved way for jobs for thousands of people. The government should properly investigate the cause of his tragic death," he wrote in Kannada.

Meanwhile, role of some private equity players and their nominees on Coffee Day Enterprises, as also some independent directors, has come under the scanner of markets regulator Sebi in the wake of a crisis at the leading coffee chain operator due to death of its founder and chief VG Siddhartha.

A letter purportedly written by Siddhartha also surfaced on Tuesday. Dated July 27, the letter was addressed to the CCD Board of Directors and to the employees. In the letter, CCD founder said that that he “failed as an entrepreneur” and that he is “solely responsible for all mistakes. It goes on to detail that he was under tremendous pressure from a private equity partner and from lenders. The letter purportedly signed by Siddhartha also alleges harassment from a former DG Income Tax.   “After 37 years, with strong commitment to hard work, having directly created 30,000 jobs in our companies and their subsidiaries, as well as another 20,000 jobs in technology company where I have been a large shareholder since its founding, I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts,” it said.