I-T searches continue on premises of S M Krishna's son-in-law

Income Tax officials on Saturday continued their search for the second day at the properties belonging to former Union minister S M Krishna's son-in-law V G Siddhartha, who is also the chairman and managing director of the Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) group, sources said.

The sleuths, who had began search yesterday morning, continued till after midnight, the IT department sources said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the CCD group said, "Coffee Day Enterprises is a responsible corporate following all norms of corporate governance. We continue to comply with laws of land and will extend all cooperation with the concerned authority."

The sleuths had conducted raids at over 20 locations across the country, including those in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Chikkamagaluru, the source said.

Siddhartha is the founder-owner of the CCD, a chain of coffee outlets in India, and has been its chairman and managing director since January 17, 2015. The company sources coffee beans from its plantations in Chikkamagaluru.

He is also an investor and has stakes in some IT firms, including Mindtree, and is among the largest exporters of coffee bean in the country.