Dinesh Rathod had posted this picture on Facebook of him at the Everest base camp.
Highlights
- Police constable couple from Pune says they climbed Everest
- Other mountaineers say they're lying, morphed pics
- Pune police has begun inquiry, Nepal also launches probe
Nepal has opened an investigation into an police couple from Pune accused of falsifying photographs to support their claim of summiting Mount Everest this year, an official said Monday.
Indian police constables Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod earlier told reporters they reached the top of the 29,029-foot peak on May 23 but their claims were thrown into doubt after fellow climbers accused the couple of doctoring photographs of themselves on the summit.
"We have started an investigation into the Indian police couple's claim of scaling Mount Everest," said Nepal tourism chief, Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal.
The tourism department initially certified the couple's summit claims after speaking to their expedition organisers and to government officials stationed at Everest base camp, Mr Dhakal told news agency AFP.
"In order to provide a certificate to the climber, we rely on their photograph on top of Mount Everest.... If someone fakes their photos, it's hard to determine that they are not original," Mr Dhakal said.
"If proven guilty, we will invalidate the Indian couple's certificate and charge them with forgery and fraud."
The probe began on Sunday evening, he said.
It is not technically an offence to pretend to summit Everest, but authorities are investigating the couple for fraud after eight other climbers filed a complaint against them in India, saying such a con belittles the efforts of genuine mountaineers.
Many successful summiteers have gone on to make money or forge careers as motivational speakers and authors on the back of their feat.