BENGALURU: Kannada film hero ‘Duniya’ Vijay and his three associates were arrested on charges of kidnapping a gym trainer from Vasanth Nagar and assaulting him in his car late Saturday night.Police said Maruti Gowda , 26, from Kirloskar Layout, near Mahalakshmi Layout, north Bengaluru, was assaulted allegedly by Vijay, 42, resident of Chennammanakere Achchukattu; his gym instructor Prasad R, 33, from Annapoorneshwari Nagar; and his driver Prasad J, 30; and friend and gym instructor Mani, 24, both from RR Nagar.They said Maruti Gowda’s uncle Krishnamurthy H alias Panipuri Kitty, from Kirloskar Layout, lodged a complaint against the quartet.Kitty said three of his bodybuilders were participating in a competition organized by Karnataka Amateur Bodybuilders’ Association at Dr BR Ambedkar Bhavan on Saturday.Kitty runs a gym, Muscle Planet, in Rajajinagar.“I was informed around 10.45pm that Vijay had an altercation with my nephew Maruti Gowda and assaulted him. Later, Vijay and his associates bundled Gowda into a Range Rover and sped away. I rushed to Ambedkar Bhavan and called my nephew on the phone. He confirmed the incident,” Kitty said in a complaint to High Grounds police around 12.30am.Police have registered a case against the accused under IPC sections 363 (kidnap), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation).K Ravi Shankar, ACP (Seshadripuram), called Vijay over the phone and told him to bring Gowda to the police station in one hour or face consequences. The actor arrived at the station around 1.30am with Gowda and other three accused. Police detained the quartet and seized their Range Rover.High drama prevailed at the police station when Vijay arrived as his supporters traded words with those of Kitty. The mob damaged Vijay’s car mirrors. Police took the accused to Vyalikaval police station by 7am. Hundreds of people claiming to be Vijay’s fans turned up at the station, but police dispersed them.The four accused were produced before a magistrate in his house in Koramangala and were sent to 14 days in judicial custody. Gowda has been admitted to a private hospital with torn lips.“Vijay claims he did not assault Gowda. We learnt Vijay and Kitty were friends for 20 years. The actor trained under Kitty, and they separated a year ago. Vijay noticed Gowda in Ambedkar Bhavan at 10.30pm while he was about to leave the spot and asked where Kitty was in abusive language. Gowda lost his cool and objected to the actor abusing his uncle. A few people claiming to be Vijay’s fans assaulted Gowda at the spot. Later, they took him in Vijay’s SUV and drove towards west Bengaluru where he was allegedly assaulted again,” a police officer said.Vijay filed a counter-complaint against Kitty and his supporters alleging they had damaged his car at the High Grounds police station. Police have registered a non-cognizable offence against Kitty and others.Kitty is said to have trained several leading Kannada film personalities.The actor has been sent to Central Jail’s high-security cell where Mohammed Nalapad Haris, an accused in an attempt-tomurder case, had been lodged earlier this year.

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