Shailaja Pujari, female weightlifter, has been dropped from the Indian Beijing Olympics team and replaced by a teammate after being accused of bribing her way to the Games, according to an official.

Pujari found herself embroiled in controversy last month when she was named in media reports as offering 500,000 rupees ($12,500) to a senior official to get picked for the 2008 Games.

She denied the charge as did the official, Baldev Raj Gulati, Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) secretary.

Pujari, who was due to compete in the 75kg category, was replaced by Monika Devi (69kg) in the lone weightlifting berth offered to India after fresh selection trials were ordered by the sports ministry.

"Monika won by a clear-cut margin," Gulati told reporters.

"We took into account their performance over the last 12 months and Monika definitely had the better record of the two.

"Besides, Shailaja's past history of doping went against her."

Recent ban

Devi helped India clinch the lone Olympic berth by picking up a silver and a bronze in the Asian weightlifting championship in Japan in April-May.

Pujari, who came out of a two-year doping ban in February, won the initial trials in June, but the sports ministry rejected her selection due to the bribery charge and accusations of flouting rules.

"It is learnt that Pujari used four types of knee bandages at a time, which is against the rules of International Weightlifting Federation," the ministry said in a letter to the Indian federation.

Indian weightlifting has just emerged from a two-year ban after a series of drug-related scandals between 2002 and 2006.

Karnam Malleswari, Indian female lifter, won a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.