Srinagar, Jun 22 (IANS): The family of a missing Ph.D. scholar protested on Monday in Srinagar asking the authorities to help trace their kin.

Hilal Ahmad, a Ph.D. scholar had gone to the Wangat area of the north Kashmir Ganderbal district on a trek with his friends on June 14.

His friends said they decided to trek to the Gangabal mountain lake in the foothills of the Harmukh mountain, but Hilal said he would wait at Naranag (Wangat) for their return.

On return from Gangabal, Hilal's friends said he was found missing from Naranag.

The youth has remained untraced since.

There was a report on Sunday, which said he had been killed with the two other militants gunned down by the security forces in Srinagar city.

The police promptly denied the report, saying that Hilal Ahmad was not among the three militants killed in an encounter in the Gilli Kadal (Zoonimar) area of Srinagar.

The family said the youth is an orphan having lost both parents when he was in class 10.

The relatives have appealed the authorities to trace the youth and help the family come out of the mental agony they are presently undergoing.