Barely days after India’s ace wrestler Narsingh Yadav and shot putter Inderjeet Singh failed a crucial dope test and are suspicious of joining the Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics, another alleged conspiracy to trap a para-athlete into a similar scandal has now come to light.
The issue relates to world’s top ranked para athlete Sunder Gurjar who may have just survived an attempt to cast a doping shadow on his shot at the Olympics into limbo.
The owner of a juice shop, where Sunder used to drink juice on a daily basis, claims he was offered Rs 1 lakh by an unknown person to contaminate his juice, an offer he chose to refuse.
Sukhbir, the owner of the juice shop near Vidhansabha in Jaipur, immediately informed the police about the matter.
Investigation officer Raghuvir Singh suspects the matter to be related to doping and said that a probe is already underway and the CCTV footage of the nearby areas are being examined.
Sukhbir told the police that a tall man came to his shop, situated near the Sawai Man Singh Stadium where Sunder practises, and asked him to mix a tablet in Sunder’s juice for which he would be given Rs 1 lakh. When Sukhbir rejected the offer, the unknown person threatened to kill him.
Shocked at the incident, Sunder said that he hasn’t gone for practice since he heard about the matter. He also said that since it’s the first time he is appearing in Para Olympics, he has not even taken any medicine for fever.
Sunder further said that the next day when he went to the juice shop, Sukhbir started crying and urged him not to buy anything for any shop nearby. He then went to Jyotinagar police station and filed a complaint.
Sunder is currently the top ranked javelin thrower and is all set to take part in the Rio Para Olympics, which will held from August 20 to August 25.
During the 16th Para-athletics National Championship in Panchkula, the 20-year-old athlete created a national record with a throw of 68.42 metres – six metres more than the world record.
