Six in custody for attacking gym trainer in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Six men have been arrested for allegedly beating up a 22-year-old student, who works as a gym trainer, at Teachers Colony in Sanjay Nagar, in north Bengaluru, on May 19.

The arrested are Mateen Ahmed from Mattikere, the prime accused, and his associates Jayakantan, Shreyas, Kishore, Pavan and Shailendar, residents of Yeshwanthpur and surrounding areas. The accused claimed that they attacked Ansh Thakur for speaking ill about another gym trainer, called Ilyas.

The arrests were made based on the complaint filed by Thakur’s elder sister, a BTech student. “Ansh Thakur trained under Ilyas for bodybuilding from 2023 till 2025. For the last six months, there was no communication between Ansh and Ilyas. However, on the night of May 18, Ansh and Ilyas exchanged heated messages on a WhatsApp group. A member of the group, Mateen, threatened Ansh on the group. On May 19, Mateen called Ansh for a meeting. The accused, led by Mateen, hit Ansh on the face with knuckles, injuring him below the right eye, while he was speaking to a neighbour,” the complaint stated.

An investigating officer said police will retrieve the WhatsApp messages to know what exactly provoked the fight. The attack was captured on a CCTV camera which helped cops identify the suspects.