Couple's mountaineering claims under investigation

Nepal has opened an investigation into an Indian couple accused of falsifying photographs to support their claim of summiting Mount Qomolangma this year, an official said on Monday.

Indian police constables Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod told reporters they reached the top of the 8,848-meter peak - also known as Mount Everest in the West - 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.