THE United Nations human rights office said yesterday that the death toll from last summer’s crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh against the now-ousted prime minister may stand at 1,400 people.

Citing “various credible sources,” the Geneva-based office said the vast majority of dead protesters were shot by security forces, with thousands more injured, during the violent outbreak between July 1 and August 15 last year.

Security and intelligence services systematically engaged in rights violations that could amount to crimes against humanity and require further investigation, the office said.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk cited signs that “extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture” were conducted with the knowledge and co-ordination of the political leadership and top security officials as a way to suppress the protests.

The UN fact-finding team was deployed to Bangladesh at the invitation of the country’s interim leader, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, to look into the uprising that ultimately drove long-time prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India.

What began as peaceful demonstrations by students frustrated with a quota system for government jobs unexpectedly grew into a major uprising against Ms Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.