Indian Railways to take action against dope tainted athletes

Indian Railways is all set to take stern action against the dope tainted athletes, Ashwini Akkunji and Sini Jose, who are its employees.

"We have the results of 'A' samples as of now. We are having a look and taking the matter seriously. We are waiting for the 'B' samples. Meanwhile, we have sent notices to players," Jhanja Tripathy, secretary and executive director (sports) at Railway Sports Promotion Board Directorate, said.

When asked if sample 'B' also turns out positive, she said, "We can withdraw all the privileges from the athletes."

Indian athletics was rocked by a doping scandal in the last few days when eight athletes tested positive for banned substances, including Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold-winning relay quartet members - Akkunji and Jose.

Railway Sports Promotion Board directorate has sent notices to both the athletes as well as southern railways as Akkunji is from Udupi district (Karnataka) and Sini is an employed at Ernakulam, Kerala.

Asked if the athletes could lose their jobs, Tripathy said, "If they were on probation, they might have lost their jobs but they are permanent employees of the Railways. We will see what will be the further course of action."

Meanwhile, Railway Sports Promotion Board directorate joint secretary S K Singh said that the department has written letters to both the Southern Railways and Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

"We have written to AFI and Southern Railways and waiting for their replies," said S K Singh.

"Nada and AFI will take action against them first," he added.