Hyderabad: Talking about the missing mountaineer Mastan Babu, the founder of Adventure Club AP, Mr K. Ranga Rao, said, “Mr Babu had studied in Korukonda Sainik school, Vizianagaram, and the school sends students from Classes VIII to XII to Darjeeling and Uttarkashi for adventure. It is since then that he developed passion for mountaineering.”

He added, “Mastan had not done any basic course from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, and he was never sponsored by any government; I met him when we had climbed the Everest. He always liked to keep in touch with his friends.”

Suresh Kochattil, member of the Greater Hyderabad Adventure Club, who had met Mr Babu at HICC during a presentation, said, “The Seven Summit Challenge was Malli Mastan Babu’s dream come true. He is an extremely ambitious person and challenged himself to climb the seven mountains in the shortest span of time. I met him when he was representing his trip for a fund-raising event at HICC. He is extremely passionate about mountaineering.”

Deenanath Harpanahalli, Chief Executive Officer of TAF (a cycling company) and a close friend of Malli Mastan Babu said, “I have written a book on 66 inspirational people in the country and one of them is Babu. I had arranged for an inspirational talk and had invited Babu. That was the first time that I met Babu. Along with another 10 people we collected funds to support his mountaineering endeavor as we found his interest and passion very genuine. We hope that he has just lost his way and will return soon.”