Golf pro Jyoti Randhawa has been arrested in India on charges of poaching in a tiger sanctuary.
Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich said they arrested Randhawa as well as another person in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, which is a protected area, on Dec. 26.
Officials said they seized a .22 calibre rifle from the golfer, who has been ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2004 and 2009.
State Tiger Inspection Force sub-inspector Satendra Kumar told the Hindustan Times a vehicle was spotted in a restricted area early Wednesday morning.
Other items were also seized, including dead animals.
“The vehicle had a Haryana registration. Besides the rifle, the team recovered the hide of a sambhar deer, a hunted red jungle fowl, binoculars, a high-beam torch and 80 live cartridges,” he told the news outlet.
The 46-year-old golfer is described as an “excellent marksman,” and the son of an army general.
Golfer Jyoti Randhawa arrested on poaching charges in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich. A .22 rifle recovered from him. pic.twitter.com/SemkQI9IvN
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2018
India Today gets the exclusive visuals of Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa in jail who has been charged for poaching.#ITVideo
More videos: https://t.co/NounxnP7mg pic.twitter.com/MQ9xEfewkg— India Today (@IndiaToday) December 26, 2018
According to officials, Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on charges of #poaching in the #Dudhwa Tiger Reserve protected area in #UttarPradesh https://t.co/Rf0gUCOxqA
— National Herald (@NH_India) December 26, 2018
Photos ANI/Twitter
