Three Indian climbers accused of falsely claiming to have summited Mount Everest in 2016 have been banned by Nepal from mountaineering in the country for six years.

The alleged fake ascent came to light after one of the three, 26-year-old Narender Singh Yadav, was named as a potential recipient of the Tenzing Norgay national adventure award, after which other Indian mountaineers alleged the summit pictures had been faked.

While mountaineering and rock climbing has intermittently thrown up controversies over claimed first ascents, such scandals are less common in the crowded world of commercial expeditions to summits such as Everest, where there are numerous potential witnesses and there is far less incentive to cheat.

The three banned climbers were named as Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami, who were alleged to have made false claims, and Naba Kumar Phukon, who was the team leader during Yadav and Goswami’s climb.

Following news of the ban from mountaineering in Nepal, Yadav denied any wrongdoing, claiming on Twitter that he had been defamed and adding: “There is no competition between donkeys and horses and the world will keep barking like this.”