Bhawanipatna:
Noted mountaineer Jogabyasa Bhoi, who has scaled many peaks including the Mt Everest, was allegedly beaten up by a group of people at a village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, police said on Tuesday.
Three persons, including a boy, were held for attacking and injuring Bhoi with sticks and sharp objects when he had gone to Dahanramal village in the district on Sunday night, a police official said.
Bhoi, who sustained injuries in the attack, was rescued by his friends and relatives when they came to know about the incident, police said.
The mountaineer filed a police complaint and based on it three persons were arrested on Monday evening, said Deepanjali Pradhan, the inspector of Kesinga police station.
The incident is suspected to have been triggered by an old feud and misunderstanding, she said, adding that further investigation is in progress and efforts are on to nab the others.
Bhoi said he had organised a mountaineering programme and took some local youths, including the main accused’s son to Himachal Pradesh in 2017. After a trekking expedition, the team was returning to the base camp when the son fell sick and died during treatment, he said.
He said that since then the man developed animosity towards him and held him responsible for his son’s death.
Apart from Mt Everest, Bhoi said he has scalded Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Elbrus and Mt Aconcagua.
