A 32-year-old rowdy sheeter from Bengaluru was found dead in a pool of blood in Tumakuru district on Tuesday, two months after he had eloped with Pallavi, the niece of Kiran Gopalaiah, a JD(S) MLA from Bengaluru. A special team has been formed to arrest the perpetrators, district police said.

“He may have been killed at night. It appeared he was attacked with lethal weapons, including machetes, at the spot where the body was found,” a police officer was quoted by The Times of India, as saying.

The deceased Manu R was working as a driver with the Mahalakshmi Layout MLA’s brother Guli Basava alias Basavaraju C (Pallavi’s father) and also ran a DVD shop on the side. According to The New Indian Express, a total of eight of Basavaraju’s men had allegedly kidnapped Manu and took him to the empty area in Jetti Agrahara village. The gang had allegedly forced Manu to consume alcohol and tied his arms and legs before killing him with sharp weapons.

Basavaraju had initially approached the police stating that Pallavi had gone missing on October 22 and it was later found out that Manu had also gone missing on the same day.

“We learnt Manu had married Pallavi and we tried to trace him. We couldn’t trace them and we still don’t know where Pallavi is staying,” said police.

Manu had posted several videos on Facebook speaking about death threats from Basavaraju and his son Kiran. In one of the videos, Manu was reportedly heard saying that police were hunting him for kidnapping Pallavi but the couple clarified that they had married each other out of their free will.

Police say the whereabouts of Pallavi are unknown.

According to police, Manu had more than 10 cases against him in Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Tumkur districts and is survived by his mother who lives in Ballagere village in Tumakuru.