L Monika Devi fails test, pulls out of Olympics

Weightlifter Monica Devi was on Tuesday withdrawn from the Indian squad for Beijing Olympic Games hours before she was to board the flight to the Chinese capital for failing a dope test hours, sources said.

Monica tested positive for anabolic salt in a test conducted on June 29, the sources said.

A silver medal winner in the 69kg category at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Monika Devi had been unanimously selected by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) ahead of Shailaja Pujari for Beijing.

The IWF had then said that her selection was based on a trial in Bangalore, resting all allegations of bribery in the selection.

Monika won a silver and two bronze in the Asian Championships in Japan in April-May earlier this year to help book the berth for India.

She was among the three women from her state — besides archer L. Bombayla Devi and judoka K. Tombi Devi — in the Indian squad at Beijing.