Golfer Jyoti Randhawa today i.e., December 26, 2018, was arrested on charges of allegedly poaching in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve protected area in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.
Ramesh Pandey, field officer said that Randhawa owns a farm in Motipur. For the last three days, he was found roaming around in the area in his vehicle and the staff was suspicious of his moves. On December 25, 2018, morning, he was intercepted inside the forest.
A .22 rifle, a vehicle bearing a Haryana registration number and other equipment were seized from Randhawa. A skin of wild boar, range finders and binoculars have also been recovered from his vehicle.
Another person, identified as Mahesh Virajdar, was arrested with Randhawa near Motipur range of Katarniaghat, Pandey said.
Interrogation and further legal action against Randhawa are being initiated by the Katarniaghat DFO, Pandey added.
Randhawa was ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking several times between 2004 and 2009. Of late, Randhawa has also started participating in international shooting events.
