The dead body of rowdy sheeter and Tulu film actor Surendra Bhandari Bantwal was found in his apartment building near BC Road in Bantwal of Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday.

His body was discovered in the afternoon after his friends approached the police raising suspicion over the fact that he was not receiving calls since last night.

Police officials from Bantwal Town police station reached his apartment to find that Surendra was dead and have said that it was a case of murder.

"We are finding out who was with him last night and we will begin our investigation from there. He was killed with a sharp object," a police official involved in the investigation told TNM.

Surendra Bantwal had become infamous in 2018 for wielding a talwar and threatening BJP workers in Bantwal, a video of which had gone viral on social media. Surendra Bantwal was arrested in connection with the incident and released on bail recently. 

He was arrested soon after the incident took place in June 2018. He was accused of attacking BJP workers including a Bajrang Dal activist Bhuvith Shetty at a restaurant and abusing them. Two other BJP workers Ganesh and Pushparaj were injured in the incident. Police at the time said that Surendra's attack was in retaliation to an attack by Bhuvith Shetty on one of his relatives.

Although Surendra had identified himself with right-wing organisations in the past, he had joined the Congress after personal differences cropped up with leaders in right-wing organisations. He also acted in the Tulu hit film Chali Polilu and a Kannada film - Savarna Deergha Sanghi.