Surprise test: NADA raid at NIS

Four-member team searches rooms for illegal supplements,collects dope samples.

The athletes camped in the premises were in for a surprise on Saturday afternoon when a four-member team of doctors from the National Anti Doping Agency NADA came calling at their doorsteps for random tests.

The development comes on the back of the doping scandal that has hit Indian athletics,with high-profile quarter-milers,among others,testing positive.

It was the first such raid by the national anti-doping body at the institute where 172 athletes are training for the London Olympics in track amp; field,boxing,weightlifting and wrestling categories.

The NADA team,led by Dr Ankur Gupta and also accompanying a woman official,searched the rooms of athletes and coaches for unauthorised supplements and steroids,besides randomly collecting urine samples of players for testing. The operation,which started around 1 pm in the afternoon,continued till late in the evening. The team,however,remained tightlipped when asked if they found anything during the search operation.

We have commissioned a search operation of the entire campus as we well as the rooms of all the athletes and coaches,one by one. It was important to step up our vigil,after all the recent doping incidents that has brought shame to the country. We haven8217;t targeted any particular discipline or field,but have collected samples from a wide range of athletes from all possible disciplines,8221; Rahul Bhatnagar,Director General of NADA told The Sunday Express.

Among others who were present at the campus during the raid was boxer Akhil Kumar. 8220;The officials came to us and we fully cooperated with them. They took the samples and we also filled the form stating all the supplements we use and listed them in the form too. We had no training today,so we were available,8221; he said.

A weightlifter,who did not wish to be identified,however said that the timing of tests was surprising because many athletes from nearby areas go home on weekends. They came in the afternoon and got us to fill a form. Later they came again for checking our premises and searched the almirahs and checked all our supplements. The whole process took about ten to fifteen minutes.

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It was a bit surprising that they came during this time. Most of us had gone out as we do not train on weekends. Many athletes hence prefer to go home on Saturdays and Sundays, he said.

Kalmadi,Bhanot under scanner

Meanwhile,the list of visitors at the NIS is set to get longer on Monday when Justice Mukul Mudgal,who was appointed by the sports ministry to probe into the doping fiasco,arrives to question the authorities and meet other SAI officals in Patiala. The former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice also added that jailed CWG Organising Committee officials Suresh Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot who are also the Athletics Federation of India president and secretary respectively may also be questioned.

I will certainly examine all facets,all the kind of officials involved but its not a judicial committee,its a fact finding committee so everybody has to cooperate with me voluntarily, Mudgal said.

I also have to see whether the athletes are victims of ignorance or they have been duped into having these things. Whether somebody is giving them the supplements,which are contaminated,whether there are not enough supplements with the Sports Authority of India, Mudgal said.