Jaipur, Sep 9 (IANS): The Rajasthan High Court on Monday issued notice to five officials of the state government including the Home Secretary, and the DGP in the matter of a youth who has been missing from Jaipur since September 1.

A bench of Judge Indrajit Singh asked these officials to submit the report on the matter by September 20. The police have also been asked to provide the progress report.

Rahul Parashar, 21, and his brother Ashish, 19, went to visit a temple in Nahargarh in Jaipur on September 1 but both of them got lost in the dense jungles.

The police started a search operation a day after on a complaint by their family members and found the body of Ashish in the hills of Nahargarh. However, Rahul remains missing till now.

The youths' father Suresh Chandra Sharma filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, contending that his son Rahul's life may be in danger and the police should be instructed to search for him and present him before the court.

The Home Secretary, the DGP, the ADG, Anti-Human Trafficking, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jaipur City North, and Shastri Nagar SHO were made parties in the petition.

The petitioner's lawyer Giriraj Prasad Sharma said that the family had informed the police about the missing youths in time. However, due to the negligence and indifference of the police, the search was not done on time.

The family approached the court as the police and administration did not pay heed. "The police have also been negligent in the case. Rahul and Ashish could not be contacted since noon. This was reported to Shastri Nagar police station, but the police did not make any effort to search for them. After people gathered at the police station, the search began the next morning. Meanwhile, the police of three police stations kept getting stuck on the matter of jurisdiction. If the search had been started on time, the tragedy could have been avoided, he alleged.