A forest department official said the ministry issued the order in the middle of this month and supplied questionnaire forms to all forest department officers across the country.

The questionnaire contains a form for mentioning the amount of wealth in the name of the officer concerned, his wife and other close relatives.

The government directive came after the joint forces gleaned information about unbridled corruption by forest officials from detained Chief Conservator of Forests Osman Gani, the forest department official said requesting anonymity.

The crack forces have already arrested a number of other forest officials.

Meanwhile, the forces continued to interrogate conservators of forest Ali Kabir Haider (Dhaka) and Mizanur Rahman (Khulna), divisional forest officers Laskar Maksudur Rahman (Sylhet) and Shamsul Azam (Dhaka).

Our correspondent in Khulna adds: During interrogation Mizanur Rahman admitted to having a house in England and land property in Dhaka which he said he made by misappropriating project funds allocated by the governments and plundering resources of the Sundarbans.

Mizan also admitted to depositing several crores of taka with different banks in Khulna and Dhaka in the name of his younger brother Wasik Iqbal.

The detained forest conservator told interrogators that 11 political leaders and five journalists of Khulna were his financial beneficiaries.

Mizan named two forest ministers of the past two governments who were well aware of the corruption of some high officials of the Sundarban Forest Division.

He said his financial beneficiaries include former lawmakers and a leader who is still holding the highest post of the BNP's student front. On the second day of his five-day remand, he also named some of his subordinates who allegedly helped him earn illegal money.

Meanwhile, Mizan fell ill due to the intense interrogation and was admitted to the prison cell of Khulna Medical College and Hospital yesterday morning.