A 31-year-old rowdy sheeter was hacked to death by unidentified men near the Harohalli KSRTC depot in Ramanagara district on Saturday.

The deceased has been identified as Santosh, alias Karadi Santhu, a resident of Siddapura near Harohalli.

According to the police, the incident occurred at 11 a.m. on Saturday when Santosh had gone to Harohalli town on his bike and was returning home. A gang of four persons followed Santosh in a car and rammed the vehicle. Owing to the impact, Santosh was thrown up in the air and fell to the ground. Before he could recover, the gang attacked him with weapons killing him on the spot.

Passers-by alerted the police who shifted the body for post-mortem before initiating investigation.

A case of murder has been taken up and the police are gathering CCTV camera footage from the vicinity to identify the car and the assailants.

The police suspect that old rivalry could be the reason for the murder. The assailants are suspected to have come from Bengaluru to carry out the attack, where Santosh was a rowdy sheeter. Santosh was recently released from jail. He left South Bengaluru’s Konanakunte, where he was residing, and moved to Siddapura.