The 13-member search & rescue team has recovered the belongings of Everester Tapi Mra and his assistant Niku Dao from a snow-covered region, located just a few metres away from Camp-II of Mt Khyarii Satam in East Kameng district on Monday.
Footprints have also been spotted at few places, but the team could not confirm whether the duo are alive, as no signs of human presence were found along the location.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mra’s sister – Yatok Mra (Nalo) informed that the recovered belongings included – GPS sets, mobile phones, tents, boots, sticks, sleeping bags, torches, walkie-talkies, Indian flags, etc.
“They started a search operation from 4:30 AM and found the materials at around 9:30 AM,” Yatok informed.
Its worthy to note that Tapi Mra – the first mountaineer from Arunachal Pradesh to scale Mount Everest and the porter – Niku Dao have been reported missing since August 17, while on an official mission to explore the snow-capped Mount Kyari Satam.
Mra, who also served as the Secretary General of Mountaineering Association of Arunachal Pradesh; had climbed the world’s highest peak on May 21, 2009. While, this was Mra’s fourth attempt to scale Kyarisatam.
On September 6, the district administration had called-off the foot-based Search & Rescue operation, due to incessant rain.
Meanwhile, on September 21, the Search & Rescue operation conducted in association with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also called-off by the district administration.
This decision was undertaken based on the inputs received from on-ground rescue team and Indian Army.
The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of East Kameng – Pravimal Abhishek Polumatla earlier stated that “Our primary objective was to ensure safety of the rescue team members and not put another person’s life in danger while executing the operation.”
“After reaching Camp-2 area, the on-ground rescue team reported that it was extremely dangerous to proceed further and stay in the Camp-2 area due to bad weather, presence of crevasses and avalanches. In fact, the rescue team experienced multiple minor avalanches during their movement near Camp-2,” – the DC further added.
However, the decision was strongly denounced by the Tagin Cultural Society (TCS), which later announced that a team of mountaineers led by everester Tagit Sorang will resume the search operation and accordingly “indemnity bond” was also signed.
Following the significant development on Monday, the Tagin Cultural Society (TCS) demanded the state government to initiate stringent action against the East Kameng Deputy Commissioner (DC) – PA Polumatla for ignoring the appeal of Mra’s family members to involve mountaineering experts – Tagit Sorang and Taru Hai in the Search & Rescue (S&R) operation.
