Delhi/Imphal, Aug. 10: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today called for a CBI inquiry into how weightlifter L. Monika Devi could have tested positive in a dope test and then cleared of all charges.

As Manipur erupted in protest on Friday over her exclusion from the Indian Olympic squad, the chief minister and the state sport minister, Biren Singh, rushed to Delhi to urge the Centre to intervene.

The chief minister said he suspected a “pre-planned motive” in excluding Monika Devi from the squad.

Ibobi Singh accused the Sports Authority of India, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the dope testing laboratory of manipulation and “dirty politics”.

“The state government has decided to move the Centre to probe the issue by the CBI and see to it that the culprits are booked so that Indian sport can be saved from the clutches of dirty politics,” a fuming Ibobi Singh told reporters.

Monika Devi was withdrawn from the Indian squad to Beijing Olympics after she tested positive for steroids on August 4.

According to the established dope testing norms for international competitions, the report should be made available 48 to 72 hours before the sportsperson’s departure, which, in Monika Devi’s case would have been around 3.30am on August 6.

Ibobi Sigh asked why SAI leaked the report to the public on August 5 before informing the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

The report on the dope test was sent by SAI to IWF only on August 6 at 12.30pm, half-a-day after Monika Devi’s scheduled departure for Beijing.

Ibobi Singh said people like IOA’s Suresh Kalmadi, and Randhir Singh sat on their decision only to say later that “it was too late to send her”.

Monika Devi today welcomed the chief minister’s push for a CBI probe, and said she was ready to undergo any test, including the ‘b’ samples.

The “b” sample test is an alternative one to confirm the findings of the first examination for consumption of banned substances.

She, too, alleged that SAI and IOA manipulated with her urine samples and declared her as having failed the dope test.

Earlier in the day, officials of the Manipur Olympic Association, leaders of student bodies and citizens’ organisations gathered at the Khuman Lampak sports complex in Imphal to chalk out strategies to seek justice for Monika Devi.

The Manipur Olympic Association, the Democratic Students Alliance, Manipur, the All Manipur Students Union and other citizens’ organisations convened a public meeting tomorrow at the sports complex to finalise their course of action.

The Manipur Olympic Association has not changed its stand of not sending teams from the state to national sporting events. The decision was conveyed to the IOA secretary general in a fax on Friday.

Sports complexes across the state today were converted into protest zones with officials, coaches and players holding sit-ins to protest the “shabby treatment” handed to Monika Devi.

While officials of state-level sporting organisations and students sat at the entrance to the main stadium, coaches and players of SAI sat at the gate of their complexes at Khuman Lampak and Takyelpat. There are also reports of similar demonstrations at the SAI complex at Utlou in Bishnupur district and at various playgrounds.

The Left Coordination Committee comprising the ruling CPI and CPM demanded impeachment of IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, dropping of sports minister M.S. Gill and action against sports secretary Sudhir Nath, holding them responsible for the “conspiracy” against Monika Devi. “We will fax a memorandum to the Prime Minister tomorrow seeking action against the trio. Left parties will raise the Monika Devi issue when the monsoon session of Parliament is convened,” L. Sotinkumar, convener of the committee, told mediapersons.