Dhaka, June 29 -- Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has withdrawn from a meeting with tax, VAT, and customs officials demanding the resignation of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman as they are maintaining a "complete shutdown".

The decision came as 10 members of the Income Tax Department and 10 members of the Customs and VAT Department -- under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council -- set off for the Secretariat to meet with the finance advisor at 4pm on Sunday.

One protesting employee said, "We just learnt that, even though we suspended the 'March to NBR' programme, he has decided not to meet with us as the shutdown programme is ongoing."

They said that once the delegation to the Secretariat arrives, additional informat...