Malli Mastan Babu's body to reach India on Apr 24

Hyderabad: The body of famed Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who died during an expedition in a mountain range in Argentinalast month, would reach his native place in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on April 24.

The body would reach the Delhi airport on the morning of April 24, the would be flown to Chennai and taken thereon to his village Gandhijanasangam, Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana said in a release here.

The funeral would be conducted with state honours. Babu, who had set a record of climbing seven important summits in the world, landed in Argentina towards the end of March. He became untraceable during an expedition and his body was found subsequently.

There was delay in retrieving the body due to inclement weather in the mountains. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who belongs to Nellore district, had sought the intervention of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in bringing back Babu's body.