The number of dopes cases in Indian athletics has shown a steep rise. What is, perhaps, more alarming is the increasing number of promising junior athletes who have been caught in the doping net.
Rohit Kumar, a junior (under-20) javelin thrower, was among the four athletes who tested positive during the Federation Cup meet at Patiala from April 21-24.
The others were hammer thrower Harvinder Singh Dagar and discus throwers Kripal Singh and Anshu Rai, all of them either still juniors or just emerging out of the junior ranks.
Kripal, Rohit and Dagar tested positive for steroids and were provisionally suspended.
A talented athlete, Rohit had set a national junior record besides winning the javelin gold in the Federation Cup. He also won the 2009 Asian Youth Games title in Singapore and was second in the last Open National in Kolkata with a throw of 73.50M.
Like Rohit, Kripal, who recently turned 20, too had a bright future waiting. He had thrown a personal best of 58.59M during the Federation Cup for the gold. He is also the inter-university champion and a silver medallist at the Ranchi National Games besides competing in the 2010 World junior championships and the World University Games last year.
A case of script gone horribly wrong is young sprinter Ranjitha Mahanta, who has recently been handed a two-year suspension. It took two years for the NADA to announce the sentence as the 18-year-old refused to turn up for the hearing. Ranjitha tested positive for nandrolone duirng National Youth Athletics Championship at Coimbatore in April 2010. Her date of suspension, now, is from the day of the order, which was May 15.
The Orissa athlete had won the 100M (12.20sec) in Coimbatore and followed it up with another medal in the 200M in a national youth record of 24.49sec. This suspension effectively takes out four years of her competitive stint and has left her career in shambles.
Of the four other athletes suspended for doping violations this month, two are from the universities, distance runner Sabeena and long jumper Avin Kumar, both from Karnataka.
They had tested positive at the inter-university championships in Moodabidri, Karnakata, last December. Another athlete who was banned for a year, Jagdish Patel of UP, is yet to turn 17. He tested positive for steroid at the last National cross-country meet in Pune in January this year.
The seniors, too, have failed to set a worthy example. First the golden girls of Indian athletics -- the six female quartermilers -- were banned for a year for steroid violation. This was followed by six athletes caught for dope offence in the All India Police meet in March.
The Indian Grand Prix meet at Patiala threw up the case of young shot putter Saurabh Vij. Vij, who was already undergoing a trial in the methylhexaneamine case, tested positive for a second time, this time for a steroid, in the tests conducted on April 8 and faces a suspension ranging from eight years to life-term.
Over 50 dope cases in athletics alone were reported during 2009-2011 a figure that has been disturbing not just for the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) but also for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).