Police have identified a resort in Ratargul area of Gowainghat upazila in Sylhet as the venue where fugitive former Sunamganj lawmaker Ranjit Sarkar held a meeting, triggering widespread discussion over a video of the gathering.
Sunamganj police said the meeting took place on November 8 at Sohel Square Eco Resort in Fatehpur Union of Gowainghat in presence of 175 people.
Police identified the venue after detaining Tara Mia, organising secretary of Awami League's (activities banned) Tahirpur upazila unit, based on a video of the meeting uploaded on Ranjit Sarkar's Facebook page.
According to information provided by Tara Mia, the meeting was held at Sohel Square Eco Resort, about 26 kilometres from Sylhet city, said Sunamganj Superintendent of Police ABM Zakir Hossain on Tuesday evening.
Police detained Tara through mobile phone tracking for questioning.
Senior district police officials questioned him, during the interrogation, he initially informed police that Ranjit Sarkar had held the meeting in Ratargul.
Based on his information, a team of Sunamganj police took him to Ratargul to identify the venue.
The Sunamganj SP said that according to Tara Mia's statement an advocate had rented Sohel Square Eco Resort on November 8, claiming to organise an educational tour.
A banner announcing an educational tour was initially put up at the resort.
Ranjit Sarkar later arrived there unexpectedly, put up another banner, delivered a brief speech lasting a few minutes and left, the SP said.
However, Sylhet Superintendent of Police Dr Chowdhury Md Zaber Sadeque said that the meeting was held at a location along the Sunamganj border.
He also said those attending the gathering were from Sunamganj.
When contacted through the phone number provided on Sohel Square Eco Resort's Facebook page on Tuesday night, the mobile phone was found switched off.
Earlier, Ranjit Sarkar posted a video of his speech at the meeting on his Facebook account on Monday afternoon, criticising the current government.
Following the video, an angry crowd set fire to his house in Gopaltilla area of Sylhet city on Monday midnight.
The meeting organisers were listed as the Awami League and its affiliated organisations in Tahirpur, Jamalganj, Dharmapasha and Madhyanagar upazilas.