The parliamentary standing committee on defence ministry made the decision as the ministry could not inform yesterday's meeting at the Sangsad Bhaban about the issue, meeting sources said.

The Bangabandhu, a much-talked-about frigate built by Daewoo of South Korea, was commissioned into the Bangladesh Navy in June 2001 after it was purchased during the Awami League (AL) rule.

But the frigate was decommissioned during the rule of the four-party coalition and the Bureau of Anti-Corruption filed a case on August 7, 2003 against some officials and AL leaders, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, for involvement in the controversial frigate purchase.

Hasina, also leader of the opposition, at a recent meeting accused the government of court-martialling the innocent navy officials and the issue raised at the budget session of parliament grabbed the media spotlight.

"News reports worried people and we are concerned about the issue as people's representatives. We will discuss it at the next meeting," former army chief Mahbubur Rahman, also chairman of the committee, told The Daily Star.

The chairman said committee members wanted to know about the issue from Defence Secretary KM Ehsanul Haque, but he could not inform them as he said he did not receive any information from the navy headquarters.

Army officials also expressed ignorance about the issue saying the navy high officials would talk about it in detail. The navy chief was not present at the meeting.

The Jatiya Sangsad body also discussed the activities of the Ordnance Company and recommended that the government modernise and diversify it to meet the demand of small arms and ammunition.

Commandant of the Ordnance Company Major General Jiban Kanai Das presented a report on its present situation at the meeting also attended by committee members Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Reazaul Bari Deena, Samsul Alam Pramanik, Syed Eskander and Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hasan Mashud Chowdhury.