Kozhikode (Kerala) | The family of Malayalee truck driver Arjun, who has been missing since July 16 after his truck was caught in a massive landslide in a village in Karnataka, on Saturday alleged that there has been a delay in the rescue operation being carried out there.

His sister told the media that the Karnataka police were informed about his disappearance on July 16. Later, more details including the GPS location of his truck were given to them, but no information about his whereabouts is available till date.

“If there is such a delay, what hope do we have? If they didn’t have the required facilities there, they should have gotten it from where it is available,” she said.

Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran, who visited the family in the morning, told reporters that rescue operations were expedited after effective intervention by the Kerala government and leading political parties in the state.

“I hope it will be fruitful,” he said.

He further said that besides a team of officials from the Motor Vehicle Department of Kerala, a police team from the state was also present at the landslide site and they were regularly reporting on the status of rescue efforts.

The minister also said that equipment such as ground radar and metal detectors are on site to assist in the rescue efforts.

Meanwhile, an MVD official who was at the scene told reporters that authorities in Karnataka hoped to find the truck by noon.

Arjun’s family is hoping he will be rescued and returned to them as even on Friday morning his mobile phone was still ringing and the GPS tracker on his truck was sending out a signal, indicating the vehicle was somewhere under the huge pile of mud and debris.

On Friday, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan contacted Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah over the issue.

According to the family, they last spoke to Arjun on Monday and there has been no contact with him since.

Six bodies have been recovered after the landslide on July 16.

Traffic on National Highway 66 has been temporarily halted due to the landslide.