National Citizens Party (NCP) has served show-cause notices to five of its top leaders, including Hasnat Abdullah, Sarjis Alam and Tasnim Jara.
The notices were issued on Wednesday in five separate statements signed by Saleh Uddin Sifat, Joint Member Secretary (Office) of the party.
According to the notices, the five senior leaders went on a personal trip to Cox’s Bazar on August 5, the first anniversary of the July Uprising, which the party observed as a nationally significant day, without informing or seeking approval from the party’s ‘Political Council’.
The five leaders who have been served the notices are Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari, Chief Organiser (North) Sarjis Alam, Chief Organiser (South) Hasnat Abdullah, Senior Joint Member Secretary Tasnim Jara, and Joint Convener Khaled Saifullah.
They have been asked to appear in person before the party’s Convener Nahid Islam and Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain within the next 24 hours and submit written explanations justifying their absence on the important national day and the reasons behind their Cox’s Bazar trip.
Sources at the Cox's Bazar airport said the NCP delegation landed there around 11:30am on Tuesday on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka.
According to sources at the airport, the group headed to the five-star Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa (formerly Royal Tulip) in Inani, about 20 km from the airport.
Their sudden visit has triggered rumours in political circles that the NCP leaders were set to meet former US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas.
Haas is currently serving as a strategic adviser to the US multinational company Excelerate Energy, which exports liquefied natural gas (LNG). He previously served as the US Ambassador to Bangladesh from January 2022 to July 2024.
However, Nasiruddin dismissed the rumours, saying they are simply visiting Cox's Bazar for vacation.
He termed the reports of a meeting with Haas as "false and defamatory".
