A Indian mountaineer has reached the top of Mount Everest, six years after being accused of faking an ascent to the world's highest summit.
Narender Singh Yadav, 26, said he was humiliated after the allegations were made in 2016.
But the climber, from the northern state of Haryana, reached the peak last Friday to complete the challenging expedition in six days, according to Nepalese authorities.
His triumph came days after his six-year ban from mountaineering in the Himalayan country ended last month.
“I have completed the expedition without acclimatisation. I have no words to explain how I feel after conquering Everest,” Mr Yadav told The National.
He and one of his friends were banned by the Nepalese government after they allegedly submitted fake pictures of themselves at the summit in 2016.
The authorities had awarded him a certificate recognising him as having reached the top.
But several mountaineers and Sherpas disputed his claims and accused him of manipulating the photos.
They questioned the documentation, including pictures that showed him with an oxygen mask that was not connected to a tank. There was no reflection of snow or mountains in his glasses, they claimed, and one photo featured a limp India flag despite Everest being known for high winds.
Hundreds of mountaineers converge on the Nepal during the brief climbing season in April and May to ascend the world’s highest peak.
Each climb is recognised by the Nepalese government with a certificate, after facts are ascertained and testimonies given by officers and travel agencies.
In recent years, scores of mountaineers have been accused of faking their climbs by providing doctored photos.
An Indian couple were sacked from their jobs in the police 2017 after they were found to have faked reaching the summit in 2016, the same year as Mr Yadav claimed he climbed the mountain.
His alleged trickery resurfaced in 2020 after his name was recommended for the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, the highest Indian award for adventure sports, but withdrawn moments before he was to receive it from the country's president.
The retraction came after the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, which regulates national and international mountaineering in India, raised concerns over the claims. This prompted the Sport Ministry to start an inquiry.
During the investigation, Mr Yadav’s own team leader said that his claims were false.
The young mountaineer, who has been scaling peaks for 12 years, was given a six-year ban, which applied retrospectively, by the Nepalese government.
He said the controversy around his 2016 climb had led to public humiliation. Mr Yadav said he was called a “fraud” in his village.
He denies the allegations.
As the pandemic gripped the world in 2020 and climbing on Everest was suspended, he worked on his mountaineering skills elsewhere.
“The circumstances that were created … people said I can’t climb it. I did not say a word to the media or people at that time but my summit is my rebuttal to all the critics,” he said.
“When my award was put on hold, I saw my parents crying. This summit is dedicated to them. It was a surprise for them as they did not know about my expedition.”
After flying to Everest Base Camp in a helicopter, he began the ascent and finally reached the summit on May 27.
“I celebrated the elixir of freedom by singing the national anthem,” he said.
Mr Yadav has set 18 records in mountaineering and is hoping to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for scaling the highest peaks of all seven continents.
He has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Australia's ten highest peaks and South America's highest peak, Aconcagua.
