As many as 1,400 people were killed in former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s violent response to a student-led revolt, according to a U.N. inquiry.

The United Nations human rights office on Wednesday estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks last summer in a crackdown on student-led protests against the now-ousted former prime minister.

The unrest began as student-led protests against quotas in civil service jobs and escalated into a countrywide movement to oust Hasina and her Awami League party following a deadly police crackdown. Thousands more were injured in the worst violence Bangladesh has seen since its war of independence in 1971.

The UN human rights office estimates around 1,400 deaths in Bangladesh due to government crackdowns on student-led protests. The Geneva-based office suggests these actions might constitute crimes against humanity.

Authorities say ‘Operation Devil Hunt’ began after gangs linked to the fallen government attacked a group of students.

Bangladesh’s former government was behind systematic attacks and killings of protesters as it strived to hold onto power last year, the UN said

The UN human rights chief says officials from former PM Sheikh Hasina's government and security services committed serious human rights violations. He said crimes against humanity may have been carried out.

UN human rights investigators accuse the deposed government of Sheikh Hasina of a brutal response that they warn could amount to "crimes against humanity". They found "an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters and sympathisers",