Sources said about 40 former and in-service high officials, 15 among whom are currently holding posts of deputy secretaries to secretaries in the civil administration of the government gathered there and discussed the current political situation and the upcoming election. But, Rahman told reporters that they did not discuss political matters.

Retired and in-service bureaucrats began to gather at the venue from 7:00pm and a few of the bureaucrat guests who are currently in service arrived in official cars, the sources said.

Around 10:00pm Mahmudur Rahman came out of the office to tackle the journalists who gathered in front of his office after they had learnt about the ongoing surreptitious rendezvous. He tried to veer them away from the gate of the house. In the mean time, the lights in the building were turned off and a few of the guests hurriedly left the place. They were frantically trying to hide their faces with their hands and by pulling their shirts over their faces as some photo journalists tried to take pictures of them.

Former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman's business establishment Artisan's office situated at House no 16, Road no 7, of Sector 1 in Uttara, was the venue of the unusual meeting. Journalists were not allowed to enter the house during the meeting.

"All of them were my colleagues. They wanted to know from me how my life is going now in private sector. They were here on a social visit, nothing else," Mahmudur Rahman, who is also a former chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI), told the newsmen after the meeting which lasted for more than two hours.

"10 to 12 in-service bureaucrats were there," he said but did not disclose the names. When the reporters asked him about the possible presence of a senior BNP leader among the 'guests', he denied the presence of any such person.

He also denied the presence of Home Secretary SM Zahurul Islam and Inspector General of Police Khoda Bokhsh Chowdhury.

Rahman claimed they talked about many things but politics.

Sources said ANH Akhter, Ismail Zabiullah, Nasimul Gani, Ehsanul Fattah, Badiul Alam Tarafder, MA Bari, former director general of BIAM Shahidul Alam, assistant personal secretary to the immediate past prime minister Shamsul Alam, Abdul Matin, and assignment officer to the immediate past premier Firoje Mahmud Iqbal were present there among other senior bureaucrats of the current civil administration.

An employee of Artisan told the reporters, "We were only informed that many guests would come here and we made arrangement to host them but we don't know why they were here."