15 wrestlers found dope positive have been suspended: NADA DG

National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Director General Navin Agarwal on Wednesday said nine powerlifters and six bodybuilders who were found dope positive during a routine check-up have been temporarily suspended.

"Nine powerlifters and six bodybuilders were found dope positive during the routine check-up, all of them has been temporarily suspended," Agarwal told ANI.

He said that the reports confirmed that the substance was Meldonium and added that NADA is taking action against the athlete as per the rules.

"The Sports Authority of India conducts routine test time to time in the rooms of the athletes. NADA also collaborated in the search operation. We seized all the substance found in the rooms for testing purposes, in which we found this substance," he said.

Total, 15 wrestlers, nine powerlifters and six other bodybuilders were found dope positive.

Earlier, an athlete was suspended by the NADA after Meldonium, a prohibited drug was found in possession during a surprise check at the National Institute of Sport (NIS) in Patiala.

Meldonium was tested positive in tennis player Maria Sharapova and was subsequently banned for 15 months.

In April, Arjuna Awardee footballer Subrata Paul was tested positive for a banned substance.

Subrata failed a dope test conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) in Mumbai when the Indian men's football team was going to Cambodia for a friendly match in February.

The goalkeeper will now go for the confirmatory 'B' sample test.

Paul, who made his debut in 2007, has made a total of 60 appearances for the national team so far.

Paul, nicknamed the ' Spiderman', has also won Nehru Cups (2007, 2009) and the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Challenge Cup in 2008.