Vijender is drugs free, says sports ministry
Controversial Indian boxer was under the scanner for a drug-related case. The Beijing Olympic Games medalist had been skipping training at NIS, Patiala
The sports ministry has confirmed that boxer Vijender Singh is drugs free. Recent tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on Vijender and four others have proved a blank.
A ministry release on Tuesday says: "The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is glad to announce that none of the boxers were found to have used any banned substances in the recent past."
Vijender and four others were subjected to an out-of-competition test for banned substances. A full menu test was conducted which included testing for psychotropic substances. Tests were only carried out on blood and urine samples.
Vijender found himself in quandary when his name cropped up in a massive drug haul where the police had recovered 26 kg of heroin, estimated around Rs 130 crore, from an NRI's house in Shivalik Vihar in Zirakpur on March 7. The presence of a car used by Vijender's wife Archana near the NRI's house only raised more doubts.
On April 1, Punjab Police said Vijender allegedly bought heroin for personal consumption on 12 different occasions from a Canada-based NRI drug dealer.
The police said that the heroin was first procured by Vijender's sparring partner Ram Singh in December from alleged drug dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon. Both boxers subsequently went together to Kahlon's house near Chandigarh for procuring the drug in January and February, police added.
Police sources said both Kahlon and Vijender knew each other well and even exchanged SMS-es. After examining Vijender's call records, sources confirmed that he was in touch with Kahlon since August last year and the two have spoken to each other on phone about 80 times. However, they did not actively connive with the smugglers in their activities and nothing was recovered from them, the police said.
Vijender was initially reluctant to share blood and hair samples for tests, but after the sports ministry insisted, the boxer relented. The Olympic bronze medalist has been skipping training and was subsequently dropped from the national team for a training stint in Cuba.