A Bengaluru court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a key suspect in the alleged contract killing of 35-year-old gym trainer Vijay Kumar, citing the “gravity of the offence”. Joseph, who has been missing since the incident, allegedly received a portion of the Rs 25 lakh contract money. The trainer’s decomposed body was recovered on June 9 from the Bannerghatta forest area, where the killers dumped it. The police alleged that realtor Prasad Rao hired local gangster Srirama through an Anekal-based advocate, B Lokesh, to execute the murder. The district court previously rejected their anticipatory bail applications on July 22, before denying Joseph’s plea on July 31.