Ousted former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had authorised the deadly crackdown on students during the July-August Uprising last year, which eventually led to her collapse, a leaked phone call has revealed.

The phone call was verified by BBC.

In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to "use lethal weapons" against protesters and that "wherever they find [them], they will shoot", BBC reported.

The leaked audio of Hasina's conversation with an unidentified senior government official is the most significant evidence yet that she gave direct authorisation to shoot anti-government protesters, tens of thousands of whom had taken to the streets by last summer, the British media reported.

Hasina was at her residence in Dhaka, known as the Ganabhaban, for the duration of the call which took place on 18 July, a source with knowledge of the leaked audio told the BBC.

It was a crucial moment in the demonstrations. Security officials were responding to public outrage at police killings of protesters captured on video and shared across social media. In the days following the call, military-grade rifles were deployed and used across Dhaka, according to police documents seen by the BBC.

The recording the BBC examined is one of numerous calls involving Sheikh Hasina that were made by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), a Bangladeshi government body responsible for monitoring communications.

It is not clear who leaked the audio.

Since the protests began, several audio clips of Hasina went viral though most of them were unverified.

July-August Uprising

According to the UN website, the repression of mass protests in Bangladesh last year that toppled longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina left as many as 1,400 people dead in just 46 days – the vast majority shot by security forces.

In addition to those killed by the former government’s security and intelligence services alongside Awami League party associates, a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) into the alleged crimes indicated that thousands were injured, including one youngster who was shot in the hand at point-blank range for throwing stones.

According to the OHCHR report, as many as 12 to 13 per cent of those killed were children. Bangladesh Police also reported that 44 of its officers were killed between 1 July and 15 August 2024.