Monika Devi

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 been 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, took their protest to Delhi.

The chief minister said he suspected a “pre-planned motive” in excluding Monika. 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 order a CBI probe and see to it that the culprits are booked,” Ibobi Singh said in Delhi.

Monika was withdrawn from the squad to Beijing after she tested positive for steroids on August 4.

Dope-testing norms for international competitions require the report to be made available 48 to 72 hours before the sportsperson’s departure. In Monika Devi’s case, this would have been around 3.30am on August 6.

Ibobi Singh asked why the sports authority had leaked the report on August 5 before informing the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The report was sent to the IWF only on August 6 at 12.30pm, half a day after Monika’s scheduled departure.

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

Monika welcomed the chief minister’s push for a CBI probe, saying 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 banned substances. Like the chief minister, Monika alleged that the sports authority and the IOA had manipulated her urine samples.

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

The Manipur Olympic Association, Democratic Students Alliance, Manipur, the All Manipur Students Union and other citizens’ organisations will meet again tomorrow.

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

Sports complexes across the state today turned protest zones with officials, coaches and players holding sit-ins to protest the “shabby treatment” meted out to Monika. While state sports officials and students sat at the entrance to stadiums, coaches and players of the Sports Authority of India sat at the gate of their complexes at Khuman Lampak and Takyelpat.

The Left co-ordination committee, comprising the CPI and the CPM, demanded that IOA president Kalmadi be impeached, sports minister M.S. Gill dropped and action taken against Union sports secretary Sudhir Nath.

“We will fax a memorandum to the Prime Minister tomorrow seeking action against the trio. The Left parties will raise the issue when the monsoon session of Parliament is convened,” L. Sotinkumar, convener of the committee, said.