Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter a week ago to neighbouring India as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure.

“A case has been filed against Sheikh Hasina and six more,” said Mamun Mia, a lawyer who brought the case on behalf of a private citizen.

He added that the Dhaka Metropolitan Court had ordered police to accept “the murder case against the accused persons”, the first step in a criminal investigation under Bangladeshi law.

Mia’s filing with the court also named Hasina’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Obaidul Quader, the general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party.

In addition, it named four top police officers appointed by Hasina’s government who have since vacated their posts, including former police inspector-general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

It also named detective branch chief Harun-or-Rashid, and senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officers Habibur Rahman and Biplob Kumar Sarker.