The city police have arrested a doctor on charges of sending abusive and threatening text messages to Kannada film actress Pooja Gandhi.

The accused Dr Kiran, who is a relative of a producer of the film, Mungaru Male, in which Pooja acted and shot to fame, threatened to tarnish the actress's image.

"Kiran said he was a fan of mine and gradually started misusing my name. I objected and maintained a distance from him. This might have made him jealous," Pooja said.

"Earlier, he was friendly with me and my family members, but then he began threatening me through messages since May 28. He used to continuously send me abusive messages. He threatened to spoil my reputation with baseless allegations. He also claims that he owns the car I use. But, I have all the documents to prove that the car is in my father's name," she added.

Pooja met city Police Commissioner BG Jyothiprakash Mirji and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar and filed a complaint against Kiran.

Kumar, said that the police had corroborative evidence against Kiran regarding sending threatening messages to Pooja, based on which he was arrested. "Kiran has been booked under criminal intimidation and has been remanded to judicial custody," he said.