Four athletes including javelin thrower Rohit Kumar, who participated in the just-concluded Asian Grand Prix series, have tested positive.
The others are hammer thrower Harvinder Singh Dagar and discus throwers Kripal Singh and Anshu Rai.
All were tested at the Federation Cup meet at Patiala from April 21 to 24. Kripal belongs to Punjab; the others are from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Kripal, Rohit and Dagar tested positive for steroids, while Rai tested positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine. The three steroid offenders have been provisionally suspended.
It was not immediately known whether the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA), which did not reveal the names of the athletes while announcing the ‘positive' tests on Tuesday, had intimated the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in time for it to pull out Rohit Kumar from Monday's Asian Grand Prix in Thailand.
No prize money
If the charge is proved, Rohit will lose his third place prize money ($500) at the Asian Grand Prix meet at Kanchanaburi (71.07m), apart from his placing in the Federation Cup.
Rohit, who is a junior (under-20), had set a National junior record while winning the javelin gold in the Federation Cup. He had finished fifth on Monday in the final leg of the Asian Grand Prix with 69.12m.
Dagar, Open National champion last year, had also recorded a personal best at Patiala with 67.01m while finishing second. An ONGC employee, he also won the inter-State title in Bangalore last year (66.21m) apart from taking the inter-university title in Moodbidri, with a throw of 66.79m.
Dagar also won the gold in the last National Games in Ranchi in February, 2011.
Kripal Singh had a personal best 58.59m while winning the Federation Cup title. He is also the inter-university champion and a silver medallist at the Ranchi National Games. He had also competed in the World junior championships in 2010 and the World University Games last year.
Rai came second in discus at Patiala, with a personal best 53.93m. He was third at the Ranchi National Games.
