KATHMANDU, NEPAL—Nepal mountaineering authorities have determined that an Indian couple faked a Mount Everest ascent earlier this year by altering photographs to make it appear they were on the summit, officials said Tuesday. Mountaineering Department official Gyanendra Shrestha said the government has cancelled the climbing certificates issued to Indian citizens Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod and banned them from climbing any mountain in the Himalayan nation for 10 years. They had claimed they scaled the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) peak in May and the government issued them climbing certificates based on the photographs. Another Indian climber, Satyarup Sidhantha from Bangalore, said it was his photograph that the couple altered to make it appear they were on the summit. The couple, who are both police officers from Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra, also claimed they were the first Indian couple to scale Everest.

Source: thestar August 30, 2016 13:07 UTC