Tulu-Kannada actor and rowdy-sheeter Surendra Bantwal was found hacked to death in his apartment in Bantwal taluk, East of Mangalore city center, on Wednesday. The 39-year-old's body was found lying on the sofa with multiple stab wounds, with suspicions large that he was murdered due to a financial issue by someone close to him.

In a statement to Times of India, Bantwal Town inspector and investigating officer TD Nagaraj said that Surendra Bantwal was hacked to death with lethal weapons. The reason for the murder, he stated, was due to a financial dealing gone wrong. He added that special teams have been deployed to investigate the case and conduct a thorough examination of the actor's death from all possible angles. He also informed that fingerprint and forensic experts have been brought in to look into the case along with a sniffer dog squad.

Surendra Bantwal's family members had called him on his mobile phone on Wednesday, but failed to get any response. They immediately informed the police who swung into action and rushed to his house to find him dead and lying on the sofa in the hall. A search has been launched for the actor's friends and also for those who paid a visit to his apartment on Tuesday. It is being stated that Surendra was a money-lender. A decade ago, Surendra was identified to be a right-wing activist, but was seen with the Congress during the last election. People began gathering outside his apartment in large numbers as news spread about his murder.

Surendra has had around 15 criminal cases against him, the police said. The actor was arrested in 2018 for attacking two BJP party workers with a machete after a video of the incident went viral on social media. He had appearances in the hit Tulu film Chali Polilu and a Kannada film titled Savarna Deergha Sanghi.