Love For The Wild Life? Ace Golfer Jyoti Randhawa, Shooter Mahesh Virajdar Arrested For Poaching In Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Forest officials have arrested ace international golfer Jyoti Randhawa and Mahesh Virajdar, a national level shooter on Wednesday (26 December) on charges of poaching in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reports citing a senior forest officer.

Field director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) Ramesh Kumar Pandey said that the arrests had taken place in the Motipur Range of Katerniaghat. According to another official, they have seized a red Isuzu SUV, a .22 rifle and various other equipment as well as wildlife articles.

The divisional forest officer of Katerniaghat will be investigating the case. According to Inside Sport, Randhawa owns a farm in Motipur, the area from where the duo was arrested.

Department officials had reportedly intercepted Randhawa’s SUV on 25 December, after they noticed his vehicle “suspiciously roaming around” in and around the forest area for the past three days.

Jyotinder Singh Randhawa, also known as Jyoti Randhawa, has been ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking various times between his peak in 2004 and 2009.

He had turned professional in 1994 and finished top on the Asian Tour money list and had his best career finish at the European Tour when he was tied second in the 2004 Johnnie Walker Classic.

A resident of Gurgugram, Randhawa recently started to participate in various shooting events.