As many as five officials of the Bengaluru Turf Club are in the dock after an FIR was registered against them on charges of doping a racehorse.
HS Chandregowda, who is a horse owner and also a member of the managing committee of the Karnataka Race Horse Owners’ Association, approached the High Grounds police station on Thursday, alleging that a lab test report had confirmed that three-year-old filly Queen Latifa had been given stimulants.
Rajeev Kalkod reports for The Times of India that Queen Latifa's samples were collected in the first week of March and sent for testing. The urine samples were collected after it won a race on March 5 and were sent to National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) in New Delhi. Lab results said the horse had tested positive for a local anaesthetic procaine, states the report.
High Grounds Police Inspector Lakshmikant told IANS, "We have registered the case and the investigation is on. Will not comment till the investigation is completed."
The case was registered against BTC Chief Executive Officer Nirmal Prasad, Chief Stipendiary Officer Pradumna Singh, and BTC Members Vivek Ubaykar, Arjun Sajanani and Neel Darasha as they were named in the complaint.
They have been booked under sections 202, 418, 428, 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 11(c) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
However, a report in The Hindu states that the allegations were based on a routine test and that they were false.
The report quotes a member of the club as saying that the issue was "blown out of proportion" by a group whose horse had lost the race.
“Procaine was administered by the club veterinarian. The amount found was also negligible. These allegations are spewed from vested interests,” the member told The Hindu.
(With IANS inputs)