The government will investigate reports of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's alleged meeting with a group of government officials, State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara has said.
Published : 05 Dec 2014, 01:05 PM
She has warned that administrative steps will be taken against the officials if the reports are confirmed.
Ara told bdnews24.com on Friday: "The news of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's meeting with government officials, reported in various news media, will be looked into.
"The government will not take this lightly. It is a matter of discipline within the service."
Several television channels and online media reported a meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office on Thursday night. They claimed the participants included a group of officials of the administration.
Later that night, BNP's acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir rubbished the reports in a media statement.
"The news is a lie, a false publicity done purposefully to confuse the public," he said.
He claimed the reports had a 'political purpose'.
But several former bureaucrats and advisers to the BNP chairperson were seen at her offices last night. They were all retired government officials.
Khaleda was at the Gulshan office from around 9pm till midnight.
Fakhrul told reporters on his way out of the office that many in the BNP chairperson's advisory council were former secretaries. No present government officials were at the meeting.