The remains of missing Everester Tapi Mra and his aide found in Arunachal Pradesh

Digital Desk: On Monday, the 13-person search and rescue team discovered the belongings of Everesters Tapi Mra and Niku Dao not far from camp-II in a snow-covered location. 

The team found Mra and Dao's personal possessions that were abandoned under the snow, along with gadgets like GPS, mobile phones, tents, boots, and other items.

The State Government has been urged by the Tagin Cultural Society (TCS) to take strict action against East Kameng Deputy Commissioner PA Polutmala rather than discharge him from his duties. 

Yatuk Mra Nalo, the Everester's sister, spoke to the media on Monday at the Press Club in this city and claimed that the first search and rescue effort had failed because of the DC's incompetence and haughty behaviour. 

She said that Taru Hai and Mountaineer Tagit Sorang may have been saved if the DC had agreed to include the Indian Army and mountaineers Tagit Sorang and Taru Hai in the search effort.

The DC is to blame, she added, because he continually rejected her requests to include climbing specialists Tagit Sorang and Taru Hai in the initial search operation. "I don't blame the Indian Army for failing to recover the items of the missing," she said. 

She claimed that a formal request for assistance in the search and rescue of the missing people was made to the DC through the office of the Director of Sports & Youth Affairs, but that this request was never followed through on in practice. Additionally, the office had alerted the relevant authority and the district chief of police about the expedition.

There is clear doubt that Mra did not follow government procedure before leaving for the expedition, she said, adding that if there was a communication breakdown, the Director of Sports & Youth Affairs should be held accountable.

She also urged the DC to give an explanation for the numerous requests for his office to halt the operation. The DC should promptly justify the order or indicate whether someone else is pressuring him to do so. When the team returns from the camp, she said, "their statements will clarify what went wrong in the first attempt of the search operation, and further information on the search and rescue operation will be given."

Meanwhile, TCS HRD secretary Dash Dosi stated that, while the DC has been transferred, he has not yet been freed. As a result, unless he addresses the issue publicly, the DC should not be released, and severe action should be done. 

He stated that the rescue crew informed him through satellite phone that due to severe snowfall in the area, they had to dig nearly three metres deep to recover the missing folks' possessions. 

"Steps have been heard in some spots." However, it has not been confirmed whether they are alive or dead because no one has been found in the area," he said, adding that a few other belongings such as the Indian National Flag, walkie talkies, sleeping bags, and the State flag have been discovered. 

Mra and Dao went missing nearly two months ago while on a mission to explore the snow-capped mountain Khayarisattam in the East Kameng district.