Five senior leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP) have travelled to Cox's Bazar amid state celebrations in Dhaka to mark the anniversary of the July Uprising, reports bdnews24.com.
There, they reportedly held a meeting with former US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas at a hotel, according to television reports.
However, Khaled Saifullah, joint convenor of the NCP, shot down the reports as "fake news" and said that they were visiting Cox's Bazar simply for leisure.
Accompanying Khaled on the trip are his wife Tasnim Zara, also the NCP's senior joint member secretary, Sarjis Alam, chief organiser for the northern region, Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser for the southern region, and Nasiruddin Patwary, the party's chief coordinator.
A staff member of Biman Bangladesh Airlines working at Cox's Bazar Airport said that the NCP leaders arrived in the beach town at 11:30am on a Biman flight. They were seen leaving the airport by car shortly after landing.
By midday, rumours began circulating in Cox's Bazar that the NCP delegation had met with former envoy Haas at a local hotel, with private broadcaster Ekattor TV carrying a report to that effect.
Some reports said they visited Sea Pearl Resort & Spa in Inani, also known as Hotel Royal Tulip, though hotel authorities did not confirm this. Attempts to contact hotel officials for comment went unanswered.
When asked about the matter, Khaled told bdnews24.com: "This is completely fake news. We didn't have any meeting here with Peter Haas or anyone else. We didn't even see Peter Haas. A few of us came here simply for a trip."
Around 4:45pm, Cox's Bazar's Superintendent of Police Md Saifuddin said five NCP leaders were staying at a hotel. "It's not true that they are meeting with Peter Haas," he said.
"They haven't informed us when they plan to return to Dhaka. We also checked with the airport, but found no ticket bookings under their names."
