The military sources said all intelligence units of the army, navy and air force, including the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), have started the inquiry while the DGFI is acting as co-ordinator.

"We find the leaking of Harun's statements related to the eight defence personnel to the press very irritating," said an army official, requesting anonymity. "This has maligned the image of the army," he said.

Law enforcers investigating the August 17 blasts arrested Harun on Tuesday in Dhaka. Harun confessed that he had trained the cadres of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) on bomb-making and operation techniques. He also named eight serving defence personnel as trainers of the JMB bomb squads.

The news, which angered the defence community, was widely discussed among the officials of the army, navy and air force all day long yesterday.

"We are surprised how the [civil] investigators leaked such a sensitive information before becoming quite sure of it," said an army official.

"There is no scope for anyone in the defence to be involved with such activities. But since the news has given a clue, we will definitely look into the matter," said the officer.

According to him, the military intelligence will first obtain Harun's confessional statement from the civil investigators and see if he has specifically named the eight defence personnel, mentioning their ranks and postings. Then they will verify the allegation.

If the names are found true, the defence inquirers will look into the full service records and annual reports of the eight to see if they had any disciplinary problems in the past or if they were punished before. The inquirers will also see how they spend their vacations and what kind of social contacts they maintain outside the defence service.

"If the primary inquiry leads to anything suspicious, we will proceed against them as per defence rules and launch formal investigations," the official added. "If their guilt is proved, they will be punished as per military law."

Asked if the armed forces division has already formed a committee in this connection, the well-placed official said, "There is no need to form a committee as there are many intelligence wings in all the three forces. There is also the DGFI at the top. The intelligence has automatically started the inquiry."

Harun was arrested on the basis of information given by JMB cadre Obaidullah Suman, who was arrested in Kishoreganj on September 14. Suman also named one Mohiuddin, a former honorary captain of the army, claiming that both Harun and Mohiuddin trained the JMB bomb squad.

Both Harun and Suman, now on police remand, are being interrogated at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) in Dhaka.

"The ex-defence officials are no longer concerns of the defence forces. But Harun's confessions lead also to serving personnel. This demands we investigate Harun's files in the army, which we will do if we find it necessary," the official added.