Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district police on Thursday arrested Coastalwood actor Surendra Bhandary, 37, and his aide in an attempt to murder case from Pachchinadka here.Police have identified the accomplice as Sathish Kulal, 37. The police also arrested Prithviraj J Shetty, 35, from Kumble in Kerala on charges of helping the duo abscond after the crime.On June 11, Ganesh Rai, secretary of the BJP unit in Bantwal, had filed a complaint at the Bantwal town station that Bhandary and his gang led a murderous assault on him and his friends.In the complaint, Rai had alleged that Bhandary and his accomplices Manohar, Pradeep, Sathish and two others arrived in two vehicles near a hotel where they were headed for a lunch. Bhandary first launched a verbal attack after which the latter brandished sword in a bid to murder him. However, Rai escaped with an injury on his nose. The accused siphoned off a gold chain, Rs 10,000 in cash and a mobile belonging to the victims.Following this, Bhandary and five others were booked under IPC Sections 143 and 149 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 307 (attempt to murder) and 395 (dacoity).According to sources, Bhandary had been associated with the Sangh Parivar for long, but recently bid adieu to the saffron front and joined the Congress. This led to friction between the two parties.SP B R Ravikanthegowda has announced awards for all the cops involved in the operation.

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