Randhawa arrested for poaching; caught with rifle, 80 live cartridges, dead fowl

LUCKNOW: Professional Indian golfer Jyoti Singh Randhawa was arrested by authorities on charges of poaching in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich on Wednesday. A dead jungle fowl, skin of wild boar and .22 rifle were recovered from him at the time of the arrest.

A combined team of forest officials, range staff and STPF (Special Tiger Protection Force) jawans intercepted a vehicle (HR26 DN 4299) on suspicious accounts in Motipur Range of Katerniaghat, near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. During search operations, a binocular, three empty cartridges, 80 live cartridges, magazine, rangefinder, two mobile searchlight torches, Rs 36,600 cash was also recovered from the vehicle.

Randhawa, along with another man identified as Mahesh Virajdar, were inside the vehicle at the time of the arrest. The duo reportedly shot the jungle fowl on Tuesday morning.

According to reports, Randhawa owns a farm in the nearby area and was spotted by authorities the forest zones for the last three days, said officials. 

Interrogation and further legal action against Randhawa are being initiated by the Katarniaghat DFO, he said.

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

He was previously married to Bollywood actress Chitrangada Singh. The couple divorced in April 2014.