Bahraich: Ace golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on Wednesday on charges of poaching in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve’s protected area in Uttar Pradesh and remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a court, an officer said.
Randhawa, 46, was hunting in the forest area near the Motipur range along with his associate Mahesh Virajdar and was in possession of a loaded .22 bore rifle when both of them were arrested, field director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve Ramesh Pandey alleged.
A deer hide, equipment used for hunting, the telescope-mounted .22 bore rifle, 80 live cartridges and three empty shells and some cash were seized from the SUV in which the two were travelling, he said.
Randhawa, ranked among the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking several times between 2004 and 2009, has a farm house in Dudhwa-Katarniaghat forest area and was said to be staying there for the past few days.
The officer said a luxury SUV vehicle with registration number HR-26 DN-4299 was also seized from the golfer whose full name is Jyotinder Singh Randhawa.
Police slapped serious charges under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Indian Forest Act, 1927 against him. He was later produced before magistrate Shikha Yadav, who remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.
Pandey said another person, identified as Mahesh Virajdar, was arrested along with Randhawa near the Motipur range of Katarniaghat in the reserve. He too was sent to judicial custody for 14 days. The magistrate refused to grant bail to both of them.
Virajdar has served the Indian Navy as a Captain, a post equivalent to Colonel in the Indian Army and Group Captain in the IAF. He was court martialled four years ago on charges of committing certain financial irregularities.
Randhawa, who turned professional in 1994, has been a well-known name in Indian golf. He won 16 professional titles in all, eight of them on the Asian Tour.
