Hill cutting is continuing under the shelter of the government administration officials in exchange for bribes, sources said.

Mizanur Rahman, a close aide to now detained former BNP lawmaker Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, is the kingpin of the hill cutters, who damaged at least 20 acres of hill in Sabujbagh area for making space for at least 35 new housing plots for the area's ward level BNP leaders and activists, the sources said.

President of ward no 2 unit of BNP Nurul Islam alias Nuru Mistri directly helped Mizan in cutting down the hills, said a local resident requesting anonymity.

Other local sources said Mizan is carrying out his atrocities according to the orders given by Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan.

The project was designed in fiscal year 2004-'05 for building a cluster of houses for the ward level leaders and activist of Sabujbagh BNP in an effort to strengthen their influence and muscle in the area by living close to each other in a BNP village, the sources said.

Wadud also forced the district council chairman to take up a project for building a road by cutting down hills, and the district council has already started a Tk 10 lakh project for building the road, the sources added.

It was Wadud Bhuiyan who came up with the idea of settling a large number of Sabujbagh's BNP operatives in a cluster village to have strong BNP presence there at all time, said the sources.

According to Wadud Bhuiyan's plan his friend and close aide Mizan is continuing to cut down hills posing a serious threat to a government rest house, other residential houses, the natural environment and the biodiversity of that area, local residents alleged.

During a visit to the area yesterday The Daily Star correspondent found that labourers were cutting hills for building the Tk 10 lakh road.

A labourer, who was busy cutting a hill, said they were cutting the hill to build a road, the contract of which had been awarded to a construction contractor Animesh Chakma Nandith. Nandith was picked as the contractor by Mizan, he said.

Helal, a former municipality BNP president, said he was expelled from the party because he had protested Wadud Bhuiyan's unilateral decision to cut down the hills.

Different political leaders, groups of influential people, and unscrupulous businessmen are involved in the illegal hill cutting, said Pradip Chowdhury, district coordinator of the Centre for Sustainable Development.

The syndicate employs a number of day labourers for hill cutting in different areas of the district while they also use hill cutting equipment of the Khagrachhari Municipality, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Development Board, and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in exchange for bribes, Pradip alleged.

The hill razing syndicate supply soil from the hills to construction companies who fill up canals and low lands with the soil for building houses and markets in different areas of the district, sources said.

While contacted over the phone, a district BNP leader acknowledged the incidents and said they decided to establish the BNP village to help economically disadvantaged local BNP leaders and activists, and it has nothing to do with flexing muscle.

A first class magistrate of the Khagrachhari district administration, Ahmed Kabir, also acknowledged the fact that hill cutting is going on, and told The Daily Star that they already visited the area of Sabujbagh and filed a case in connection with the hill cutting accusing Mizan as the prime culprit.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Tareq Ahmed said, "Our position is very clear, for saving the environment we take necessary actions against hill cutters."

Cutting of hills is a common sight even beyond Sabujbagh, in the areas of Shalban, Comilla Tila, Khagrapur, T&T Building, New Police Line, Panch Mile, DC Hills, Jail Hills, Roads and Highway Rest House Hills, Boalkhali, Tetultala, and No 1 Kadamtali. Besides, hill cutting is also going on in full swing in all the eight upazilas of the district.

Local environmental activists filed several general diaries with police stations in connection with illegal hill cutting, but the administration has yet to take any effective step to protect the hills.

"We have already filed four more cases and arrested two men for hill cutting," said first class magistrate Arun Kumar Mondol adding, "We have started a mobile court also to stop hill cutting."

Monindra Lal Tripura, chairman of Khagrachhari Hill District Council said the council approved the project of building a new road considering the communication problem the local residents face, but Wadud had no influence on their decision.