The Bangladeshi government on Tuesday revoked the passports of 97 individuals, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing them of involvement in killings and forced disappearances linked to the July uprising, saying Bangladesh daily Pratham Alo reported on its website.

Including 22 individuals linked to disappearances and 75 to the killings, the revocations mark a significant escalation in the ongoing investigation into the violence.

At a press briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday, Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Mazumdar disclosed that Hasina, ousted in August amid mass protests spearheaded by students, is among those accused.

The student-led movement had forced her resignation on 5 August, after which she fled to India, where she continues to reside.

The government claims to have compiled a list of 826 individuals who were allegedly killed during the uprising. These deaths are being treated as crimes against humanity, with the International Crimes Tribunal issuing an arrest warrant against Hasina.

Bangladesh's interim administration, which has been in place since 2009, also launched an investigation into enforced disappearances over the past 15 years. An inquiry commission formed in January has exposed chilling accounts of secret detentions by state forces.

Victims were allegedly held in concealed facilities for years, tortured, and, in some cases, executed. Bodies were reportedly disposed of in rivers or left on railway tracks to obscure evidence.

The commission has received 1,676 complaints of disappearances, of which 758 have been reviewed. While 73% of the victims have reportedly returned, 204 individuals remain unaccounted for.

Hasina, one of the most influential political figures in Bangladesh’s history, now faces a turbulent chapter as her alleged complicity in the events of July 2024 comes under international scrutiny.