In a surprise for many sports lovers, ex-golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on the charges of poaching in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. The ex-golfer has been arrested along with Mahesh Virajdar by the Uttar Pradesh Police Department, alongside the local police force for illegal hunting.
According to preliminary reports, as published by news agency Asian News International on both its own website and the official Twitter handle, the international golfer has been arrested from the Motipur forest range located in Katerniaghat, which is situated in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.
Golfer Jyoti Randhawa arrested on poaching charges in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich. A .22 rifle recovered. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/tLaB0oOlf5
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2018
As per the preliminary reports, following objects have been recovered from the possession of the golfer and his accomplice, Mahesh Virajdar:-
- Vehicle with the number plate HR26-DN-4299
- A 0.22 calibre bore rifle
- Wildlife Articles and other hunting equipment etc.
As of now, the two have been into police custody for now, and further details are awaited as the DFO of Katerniaghat is interrogating and pursuing further legal action against the duo arrested.
For those unaware, Jyotinder Singh Randhawa or Jyoti Randhawa is an ex-professional golfer who had represented at multiple tournaments of international level. At one time, he was one of the formidable members in the legendary trio of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and himself, who used to win laurels for India at the Asian level. He has been a regular winner when it came to Asian Tour level golf.
He was ranked within the top 100 of the official World Golf ranking several times during the years from 2004 – 2009. He was formerly married to actress Chitrangada Singh, though the couple divorced each other in 2014. As such, it is quite hard for anyone to believe that the ex-golfer indulged in such nefarious activities, and was caught for the same.
However, this is not the first time that a celebrity has been arrested for either hunting or indulging in any other criminal activity. We all know what Salman Khan and his Bollywood friends did in early 1998, when Salman Khan, along with Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari were arrested for illegally poaching two blackbucks in the Kankani village of Rajasthan.
Besides, we’ve also seen how the arrest of Tiger Woods in a drunken driving case, followed up by charges of adultery, caused his subsequent downfall. The arrest of Jyoti Randhawa on poaching charges is not entirely surprising, given how many celebrities have had a tendency of treating themselves above the law.
Moreover, it is a surprise that the UP Police did not waste any time in catching the culprits. Once notorious for their lackluster attitude towards maintaining law and order, the UP Police has completely changed for the better with the advent of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister.