In June989? ??? ??? ?? Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod made headlines as India's first couple to scale Mount Everest. Now, Nepalese authorities have said that the Indian couple faked documents and photographs of themselves at the top of the world's tallest peak.
SEE ALSO: Why is Mt. Everest so deadly?The husband and wife duo are police officials from the western Indian city of Pune, and had even held a press conference last month, in which they claimed to be have reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 23. However, several mountaineers complained against the couple and said that they never made it to the summit and had instead doctored their photographs.
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Nepal's tourism authorities had initially said that the couple's claims were valid, but started a probe after critics pointed out that the clothes they wore in different photos of the climb did not match. "The expedition agency has confirmed that the photos submitted to the department were morphed by the Indian couple in order to get the certificate,” Nepal official Gyanendra Kumar Shrestha told AFP.
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Once the authorities file a formal report, the couple is likely lose their climbing certificate and be banned from climbing any peaks in Nepal. He added that the case could lead to stricter rules for certifying summits, a process that currently depends on verification by the expedition's leader and sherpas.
"It is next to impossible to change clothes and boots mid-climb as there is a danger of frostbite and we are cent-percent sure that photographs were taken either at a base camp or at a studio and later it was meticulously morphed or cropped," mountaineer Surendra Shelke, one of the complainants told PTI. Shelke also said that no one had seen the couple beyond the base camp.
Alongside Nepal's investigation, Pune police has started a probe into the Rathods' claims after the mountaineers complained against them. Meanwhile, another mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta has alleged that the couple had doctored photographs of his ascent to Mount Everest on May 21.
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