Uttar Pradesh: Golfer Jyoti Randhawa arrested on poaching charges, sent to 14-day judicial custody

Ace golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on Wednesday December 26 on charges of poaching in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve protected area in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.

A fire arm was seized from Randhawa, whose full name is Jyotinder Singh Randhawa, field officer Ramesh Pandey said.

A vehicle bearing a Haryana registration number and other equipment were also recovered from him. 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, he said.

Later, the magistrate refused to grant bail to both of them.

Randhawa was ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking several times between 2004 and 2009.

The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, which is about 200 km from state capital Lucknow, is a part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. It covers an area of 400.6 sq km in Terai belt of Bahraich district.

In 1987, it was brought under the purview of the 'Project Tiger'. It provides strategic connectivity between tiger habitats of Dudhwa and Kishanpur in India and the Bardia National Park in Nepal.