Arunachal: A massive rescue operation is underway to trace the missing climbers.

Guwahati: The Indian Army has launched a massive search and rescue operation to locate missing climbers Tapi Mara and Nikko Dao, who have been missing since August 17 during an official expedition to Arunachal Pradesh’s snow-capped Kheristam mountain.
A team comprising 31 army personnel, 3 local mountaineers and 60 porters left for the search and rescue operation to find missing climbers foot on Thursday.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of East Kaming District, two members of the expedition team are missing since August 17 as reported by the remaining six members of the team, who reached Sepa from their expedition base camp on the evening of August 29.
Meawnhile, two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and two Cheetah helicopters have been kept on standby for search and rescue missions and will be used for aerial surveillance of the area once the weather clears, along with a team member.
Tapi Mara became the first person from Arunachal to climb Everest in 2009.

Teams of highly trained Special Forces of the Indian Army and Arunachal Scouts have also been deployed for ground search operations in difficult areas of the campaign area.