The concern came to a head after the police discovered two camps in Hathazari and Rangunia upazilas on June 1 apparently by chance. They believe clandestine militant activities go on under cover of outlying villages, but could not confirm how many camps have sprawled up.

Intelligence agencies mounted a sharp watch on some kaomi madrasas (religious schools that follow an old curriculum) and local leaders of Islamist organisations with suspected ties to militant operatives.

They are also watching some Islamic non-governmental organisations (NGOs) believed to be spending on secret militant training hefty funds that they bring in from the Middle Eastern countries in the name of building mosques, madrasas and welfare bodies.

The north forest department in Chittagong has 56,416 hectares of forestland in Mirersharai, Fatikchhari, Hathazari, Rauzan, Sitakunda and Rangunia and the south forest department has another 65,000 hectares in Chandnaish, Patia, Banskhali, Chokoria, Lohagara, Satkania and Boalkhali.

Forest officials, declining to be named, said much of the forestland is beyond their supervision.

The two training camps busted in Hathazari and Rangunia thrived on government land, an indication many more are secreted there.

"There is no government programme in much of the hilly forest. Nobody goes there and we cannot supervise the areas properly, as the forest department is understaffed," says Shamsul Azam, divisional forest officer (DFO) of the northern forest department. "Anyone can set up camps in such unguarded forests."

He said the forestland is divided into different beats, each covering between 1,600 and 2,800 hectares with one official, three guards and a gardener to look after.

Assisted by one of the three, the official is mostly busy in office, he said, adding the other two cannot supervise hundreds of hectares on foot. "We cannot expect them to do so," Azam said.

"We don't have information about militant camps in our areas. Still, we have instructed our beat offices to gather information on the suspicious movement of people. We will seek police help if necessary," the DFO said.

"The hills provide a cover for the militant camps to grow, as population is sparse there," says Hasib Aziz, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) in Chittagong, who led the police raid on the Hathazari camp, 14 kilometres off the local police station.

"There may be some other camps. We are gathering information and keeping a close watch on some educational institutions and NGOs," he said without naming the institutions.

HATHAZARI CAMP
Mir Mohammad Anis, principal of Al-Huda Women's Madrasa, who founded the training camp in Hathazari, fled the camp under cover of dark hours before police launched the predawn raid that found wooden dummy AK-47 rifles, tents, spears and binoculars.

Other madrasa teachers claim that Anis, cousin of a state minister, has no links with any political party or Islamic organisation.

But the madrasa organised a demonstration two days after busting of the camp, claiming Anis had no links with the camp.

Leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and other ruling four-party coalition partners attended the rally, addressed by Islamic Oikya Jote's Chittagong chief as the chief guest.

An official who was part of the police team says: "We used a source to determine the road to the camp. It was no easy matter for us. We had to cross up to seven hills. Halfway to the camp, we lost track of the road. We could not believe some people would set up a camp there."

Hathazari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mahfuzul Alam told The Daily Star that the camp was built 1,000 feet to 1,200 feet above the sea level and the hills vary in height -- from 150 feet to 1,400 feet.

Woodcutters said they saw people dressed like madrasa students roaming the forest. "We have long been discussing the issue. But nobody listened to us. We believe police raids will bring many secrets to light," said Omar Faruk of Mirersharai.

Another police official said the operatives used madrasas in Chittagong for overnight arms training but moved into the hills because of police raids on the religious institutions.