Political leaders from various political parties arrived at Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka to attend the last rites of India's biggest coffee chain owner-founder VG Siddhartha on Wednesday.
Eminent political leaders including Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddiyurappa and state Home Minister MB Patil paid homage to the businessman.
"He was a simple man, a pioneer in popularising Indian coffee in the world. I can't even imagine why a person who was under the guidance of SM Krishna Ji would end his life. I give my tributes to his family," Yeddiyurappa told .
"We have lost a great, young entrepreneur of Karnataka state who started his business by taking only Rs 5 lakh loan from his father and started his own company. He took his company, Coffee Day Global Limited to an international level. He was a very humble and sweet person. He built his empire on his own but things went wrong somewhere and it's high time to go through our banking and regulatory system," MB Patil told .
The body of VG Siddhartha was found on Wednesday morning on the banks of Netravati River, Karnataka.
The 58-year-old businessman is the son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna and went missing since Monday evening from Mangaluru.
A massive search operation involving multiple teams of police forces along with the Coast Guard and NDRF was carried out since Tuesday to locate Siddhartha. Police had also deployed the dog squads and inflatable boats in the search operation and roped in local fishermen to search the river.
( With inputs from ANI )