The pair were hailed as the first Indian couple to conquer the world’s highest peak, but mountaineers have lodged a complaint saying they never made it

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Two Indian police constables have been accused by fellow mountaineers of using crudely manipulated photographs to support their claim to have reached the top of Mount Everest.

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The husband and wife pair from Pune were hailed as the first Indian couple to have conquered the world’s highest peak on 23 May.

But eight other mountaineers have now lodged a complaint saying Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari never made it to the summit and had “morphed” photographs of themselves at the top. The couple have reportedly denied the claims.

The couple’s critics say they arrived at base camp very late in the climbing season to have a chance of reaching the top and pointed to apparent contradictions in the photographs published online by Dinesh.

“These are the biggest giveaways, the pictures are clearly morphed,” Anjali Kulkarni told Mid Day.

He said that in the photographs purporting to show the Rathods at the summit, the distinctive mountaineering clothes the couple were wearing appeared to have changed from earlier in the climb.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari, who claim to be the first Indian couple to summit Mount Everest. Photograph: Facebook

“Both seem to have changed their climbing boots, too, in separate pictures. Being able to change one’s clothes mid-climb and not get frostbitten would be a miracle,” Kulkarni said.

A group of mountaineers have accused the Rathods of making false claims, with several of them recording statements with the Pune police as part of an official complaint lodged with the city’s police commissioner.

Other pieces of evidence include discrepancies over their claim to have reached the top at 6.25am.

A photograph of Tarkeshwari Rathod brandishing the Indian flag on the summit – which was used by the Nepal Tourism Board to verify their claim – has also been questioned, with skeptics saying that the shadows suggest it was taken closer to noon.

Kulkarni told Mid Day that the couple were accused in 2014 of making a false claim in the Indian media to have completed the Aussie10 Challenge, which involves climbing Australia’s 10 peaks.

“Such people are setting a bad example both in India as well as in Nepal,” Kulkarni said. “They should be stripped of their title.”

The Rathods took official leave from their work to attempt the Everest climb, which on their return won them widespread publicity and praise from many, including their boss, the Pune police chief.

Tarkeshwari Rathod told the Indian media that she and her husband could finally start a family after putting off having children in order to complete their long-held dream of climbing Everest.

“With pride now, we want to become parents to beautiful children,” she said, earlier in June.