The 2024 deadly crackdown witnessed in Bangaldesh was authorised by the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to a leaked phone call audio with a senior government official which was verified by BBC Eye, Sheikh Hasina is heard saying she directed the security forces to use lethal weapons and “shoot wherever they find them (the protesters)”.
Hasina was at her residence in Dhaka, known as the Ganabhaban, during the call which took place on July 18, 2024.
Hours after the call, millitary-grade riffles were deployed, and by security officials across Dhaka, according to police reports seen by BBC.
Eyewitness footage, CCTV, and drone images gathered established that police opened fire indiscriminately on protesters immediately after army personnel, who were separating the police from the protesters, vacated the area.
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For a period longer than 30 minutes, the police shot at fleeing protesters as they tried to escape down, before seeking shelter in a nearby army camp.
At least 52 people died and six police officers were killed as protesters retaliated hours later, setting fire to the Jatrabari Police Station. Generally, up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government attemped to shut down a student-led uprising.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted government and her now-banned Awami League Party.
Muhammad Tajul Islam, the chief prosecutor at the ICT, told reporters that former Bangladeshi Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Mamun had pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity, in the trial that resumed Thursday, July 10.
According to the spokesperson for the Bangladesh Police, 60 police officers have been arrested for their role in the violence.
