Everest conquerors among ITBP men who recovered bodies of foreign mountaineers

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The 11-member Indo Tibetan Border Police mountain rescue team that carried out one of the world's most difficult retrieval operations to recover bodies of seven foreign mountaineers, included men who have scaled Mount Everest.

The ITBP team recovered the bodies of the foreign mountaineers near an unnamed peak near Nanda Devi East on June 23, over a month after they went missing.

"Operation Daredevil" to bring back bodies of the seven climbers was executed at 21,000 feet by ITBP specialists.

Talking to IANS, team leader Ratan Singh Sonal, the second in command said, "I have climbed Mount Everest twice. Once in 2009 and again in 2019. I have also scaled the Dhaulagiri in 2016."

Hailing from Pithoragarh district, Sonal said that it was mandatory for the soldiers of the force to go on annual expeditions. But during his service this was the most difficult and challenging operation he took part in, he said.

Constable Devendra Singh, who comes from Chamoli district of Uttarakhand said he has climbed Everest in 2012. "I have also climbed the Mukut Parbat and Abi Gamin mountain in Uttarakhand, Leo Pargil in Himachal Pradesh, Dhaulagiri and an unknown peak."

He was also a member of the rescue team following the Uttarakhand cloudburst that claimed thousands of lives in 2013.

Head Constable Kalam Singh and a resident of Uttarakhand too had scaled Mount Everest in 2012.

Constable Pradeep Panwar had also reached summited Everest in 2012 and last year he scaled Dhaulagiri. He had also been a member of the ITBP team that was pressed into service for rescue operations during the cloudburst in 2013.

Sonal said, "While retrieving the bodies, my team's task was to bring all the bodies without any damage, to the base camp and also with dignity."

"We never at any point thought of abandoning the operation due to hostile climatic condition. We have been trained in such a manner that we can deal with any conditions," he added.