Sources said that this is the first step by the minister in his effort to deal with the drug menace in Indian weightlifting.

Gill has taken exception to the culture of drug use by weightlifters and would review the whole situation soon.

To add matters worse for Harbhajan, another youth lifter has been tested positive for using banned substance in an internal test conducted by Sports Authority of India.

Karnataka lifter Paritosh Upadhyay's 'A' sample, collected early 2008, has been found to contain traces of banned substance in the tests conducted in SAI laboratory.

"The Federation is trying to hide the youth lifter's result so that the president (Harbhajan) does not face further embarrassment when he meets the Sports Minister on Monday," a source said on Friday.

The sample was taken when Paritosh was training at NIS Patiala to prepare for the Commonwealth Youth Games, to be held in Pune later in 2008.

It would attract a ban of two years and Rs 25,000 fine from the Indian Weightlifting Federation.