A local court in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday rejected the bail petition of golfer Jyoti Randhawa and another accused arrested on charges of alleged poaching at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Bahraich district, PTI reported. The next date of hearing has been fixed on January 14.

National level shooter Mahesh Virajdar was also arrested with Randhawa on December 26.

Forest Department counsel Suresh Yadav said that Chief Judicial Magistrate Navneet Kumar Bharti rejected the bail pleas. The case was earlier posted for hearing with district judge Upendra Kumar, but the inquiry officer sought to include additional sections of the Wildlife Protection Act in the case.

On January 7, the sessions court had turned down the interim bail application of the applicants and had fixed January 10 for hearing their regular bail pleas.

Officials had recovered several weapons from Randhawa’s possession, along with a vehicle, other equipment and wildlife articles.