OUT IN FORCE: The Nepalese Gurkha contingent marching back along Upper Bukit Timah Road after a massive manhunt yesterday for fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. -- ST PHOTO: EDWIN KOO

They say the country's most wanted man could survive on a variety of fruits, plant shoots and small animals while he hides from the authorities waging the biggest manhunt in Singapore history.

The comments come as police and Special Operations Command (SOC) officers scour wooded areas across the island in search of Mas Selamat.

The head of the Singapore branch of the Jemaah Islamiah terror network broke out of a detention centre on Whitley Road last Wednesday, and authorities believe he is still on the island.

The most verdant spots for a prolonged hideout include places such as Mandai, Yishun, Lim Chu Kang and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, say experts.

One survival expert, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tamilselvam, said there are wild fruits, coconut and palm tree shoots, and edible tropical plants in Mandai.

Mr Tamilselvam, 57, who used to be an instructor to the Singapore Armed Forces Commandos, said small animals such as iguanas, snakes and flying squirrels could also be caught for meat.

A former office-holder with the Nature Society (Singapore), Mr Sutari Supari, 57, also said the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is rich in edible plants and fish.

'All the fern shoots, like bird's nest ferns, and all the freshwater fish in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve are edible,' he said.

'Whatever you see the hornbills, monkeys and squirrels eating, it's safe to eat,' he said.

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was the site of day seven of the massive search for Mas Selamat.

Yesterday saw the security forces trekking up Singapore's highest peak - the 164m Bukit Timah Hill.

At 8am, joggers and students on a hike were greeted by the sight of about 300 SOC officers and more than 200 Nepalese Gurkhas searching the undergrowth and tunnels of the reserve.

Passing vehicles, including school buses, were also checked.

The manhunt started in Hindhede Road and ended in Dairy Farm Road, but turned up nothing.

The seven-hour operation at Bukit Timah was one of several focused on wooded areas in the north-western part of Singapore.

In another manhunt which began on Monday night and lasted till early yesterday morning, officers from the SOC, the Gurkha contingent and the Jurong police division fanned out over an area framed by Woodlands Road near Yew Tee, Mandai Road and a stretch of the Bukit Timah Expressway.

Armed with torches, the officers trudged into the thick undergrowth. The crack of twigs and branches were the only sounds of the massive operation.

But by about 12.30am, the officers called a halt to it.

At a media briefing yesterday, police director of operations Wong Hong Kuan said police were searching the forests because, unlike built-up areas, 'there is no one to report anything to us'.

'In terms of areas that are populated, we are confident the message is there,' he said, referring to the police's appeals to the public for help in calling 999 if they have any information.

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