Nepal bans two Indian mountaineers for 10 years

Kathmandu, Feb 1 The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in Nepal has imposed a 10-year ban on two Indian mountaineers, restricting them from climbing any peak in Nepal after they produced fake documents to say that they had climbed the Mount Everest in May 2016.

Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami claimed that they had attempted to climb the world’s tallest peak and received a certificate from Nepal’s Department of Tourism which was later challenged by some summiteers, who claimed that they did not see Yadav or Goswami at the top of Mount Everest.

Both Yadav and Goswami were part of a 15-member international team.

Citing the claim made by the other team members, several international media houses reported that both Yadav and Goswami were not able to reach the top of Everest after their health condition deteriorated.

A complaint was registered against them at Nepal’s Tourism Department, following which a team was formed to probe the matter.

“As per the suggestions forwarded by the probe committee, we have decided to put a ban on them from climbing any peak in Nepal for 10 years,” said Tourism Secretary Yadav Koirala.

It was also established after the probe that the duo had provided photoshopped images to support their fake claim, Koirala said.

“We also took the accounts of the other climbers. After probing all the documents and affidavits which were provided to us, we have decided to cancel the certificates awarded to them besides slapping a 10-year ban on them,” Koirala said.

Not only Yadav and Goswami, the team leader of the expedition team, the organiser and the liaison officer also faced the action.

Earlier too, the certificates of two Indian climbers, Dinesh Rathore and Tara Keshari Rathore, were canceled for making false claim of climbing the Mount Everest.