A huge team of the joint forces on Monday conducted a massive special operation at Jungle Salimpur under Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram, detaining 12 people and recovering arms, explosives, and surveillance equipment.

Two temporary police camps were set up in the area for security purposes and to prevent criminals from regrouping after the drive, police said.

According to the police, a total of 3,183 members of different forces took part in the massive operation, including 487 members of the Bangladesh Army, 146  members of the district police, 800 members of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police, 400 members of the Range Reserve Force Chattogram, 100 members of Feni district police, 300 members from the hill districts, 330 members of APBn, 122 members of the BGB and 371 members of the RAB. Seven executive magistrates were also assigned to the operation.

They recovered two firearms, including a pistol and a locally made gun, four rounds of ammunition, 11 crude bombs, 17 locally made weapons, 19 CCTV cameras, two DVRs, a power box, and two binoculars, the police said.

Law enforcement officials said that the recovered items were believed to have been used in criminal activities, surveillance, and monitoring the movement of law enforcers.

No casualties were reported due to the operation, the police said.

According to the Chattogram district police, the operation began at about 5:30am in response to long-standing allegations of criminal activities, illegal arms stockpiling, hill cutting for plot sales, sheltering criminals and a deteriorating law and order situation in the area.

Members of the police, Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh took part in the operation in the remote hilly area, which has long been known as a stronghold of armed groups.

Chattogram Range deputy inspector general of police Ahsan Habib Palash told journalists after the operation that the law enforcement agencies had established control in the area.

The DIG said that people in the area had long been subjected to various forms of oppression, adding that several groups had been operating there bypassing government rules, land administration procedures, carrying out land documentation, and transfer activities on its own.

He also said that ordinary people could not move freely in the area while the police and other law enforcement agencies had failed in four earlier attempts to enter and control it.

During the drive, members of the joint forces carried out combing operations at different hilly and inaccessible points, including suspected hideouts, risky settlements, hill tracks, and other possible locations of criminals.

To keep the law and order situation normal and ensure the safety of local residents, two temporary police camps were set up at Chhinnamul and Alinagar after the drive, police said.

The police said that three helicopters, 15 armored personnel carriers (APC), three dog squads and 12 drones were used in the operation.

Jungle Salimpur has long remained a crime-prone area.

On January 19, a member of RAB-7, nayek subedar Motaleb Hossain Bhuiyan, was killed in an attack by locals during an operation in the area.

At the time, the RAB said that its members had come under attack by around 400 to 500 miscreants after launching a drive to arrest armed criminals there.

Settlements in the hilly area reportedly began in 2004, initially as shelters for destitute and landless people. Later, several groups emerged to control the occupied hill land.

The area, spreading over around 3,100 acres of khas land, has over the years become notorious for illegal settlements, and repeated armed turf wars among rival groups.

In 2022, the government took steps to clear the occupied land for projects, including the Chattogram Central Jail, a sports village, a cricket stadium, an iconic mosque, and an eco-park, but repeated resistance obstructed the efforts.

After the political changeover on August 5, 2024, the activities of local armed groups reportedly increased again, with several clashes and killings taking place.

On October 4, 2025, a clash between the Yasin group and the Rokon-Gafur group at Alinagar left one member of the Rokon group dead and several others injured.

Police, district administration officials, journalists and other people were also attacked on different occasions during earlier attempts to enter the area.