Thaindian News

Patiala (Punjab), July 6 (IANS) Swooping down on chemists selling steroids and anabolic drugs without prescriptions in the vicinity of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) here, the Punjab health department raided the shops Wednesday and cancelled the licences of three of them.

“The Punjab health department today swooped down on chemists near NIS Patiala and found three shops selling banned steroids without prescriptions. The raids were ordered by Punjab Health Minister Satpal Gosain after the reports of these shops selling steroids to the players being training in NIS,” a health department spokesman said here.

“The raids were conducted on 11 shops and steroids were found in three shops while the records of the other shops were not found in order. The minister has ordered the immediate cancellation of the license of the erring shops and the registration of criminal cases against them,” he said.

Banned steroids and other drugs were recovered from the chemists raided, the spokesman said.

Gosain said that the Punjab government was determined to act strongly against the miscreants.

The health minister ordered Patiala’s civil surgeon to also raid chemists in the city.

The raids were conducted in the aftermath of the doping scandal that has hit Indian athletics and reports of steroids and anabolic drugs being sold near NIS. The raids were conducted with the assistance of the state police and many samples of the drugs were also confiscated for laboratory checks.

“We have conducted raids at various chemists in Patiala, especially at shops located in the vicinity of NIS. We would continue these raids in the coming days and checks will also be conducted in other districts. There are certain shops that are under the scanner,” said a senior Punjab government official Wednesday.

“If we find any chemist selling banned anabolic drugs or objectionable steroids then criminal action will be taken against him. They are not allowed to sell these drugs over the counter without a proper prescription from a recognised doctor. We would also check the past sale records of the shops.”

Eight Indian athletes have tested positive for banned durgs. Punjab’s star quarter-miler Mandeep Kaur was among the two athletes who returned positive in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) test. The other six returned positive in tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)

Meanwhile, NIS officials admitted that banned drugs are easily available in stores near the complex.

“There are many shops, situated close to NIS, which are selling performance enhancing drugs. They are easily available and anybody can go and buy them. This crackdown should have happened a long time back,” said a senior NIS official, requesting anonymity.