Ace golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on Wednesday on charges of poaching in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve protected area in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.
A firearm was seized from 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.
Randhawa was ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking several times between 2004 and 2009.
ABOUT WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, 200 km from Lucknow, is part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
The sanctuary covers an area of 400.6 sq km in the Terai belt of Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district.
Brought under ‘Project Tiger’ in 1987, it provides a link between Dhudwa and Kishanpur tiger habitat in Nepal.