Three more Indian weightlifters have tested positive for doping, taking the latest positive tests to five, and the national body is now facing another suspension.
Male lifters Harbhajan Singh and Rajesh Kumar and female Bijaya Devi were caught in World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tests at a training camp for the Commonwealth championships, Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) secretary Baldev Gulati said.
Shailaja Pujari, a women's 75kg gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and men's 56kg lifter Vicky Batta failed out-of-competition tests last month.
"I'm dumbfounded," Gulati said on Thursday. "All of them have shown some sort of anabolic steroid.
"We've also had periodic dope tests. This shows something has happened in the last 20 days, just before the Commonwealth championships, (lifters) trying something, if this is correct."
The Commonwealth meet starts in Malaysia on Sunday.
All of the competitors have denied any wrongdoing and are seeking tests of their B samples, Gulati said.
"What is causing a bit of suspicion is all of them have tested for the same type of anabolic steroid, the same quantum. There is something that doesn't look very natural."
India has repeatedly faced embarrassment due to doping among weightlifters and the national body was banned in 2004 and 2006, because three or more lifters tested positive in a calendar year.
Last year, Egyptian Magad Salama resigned as national coach citing doping among senior lifters.
