Bangladesh court orders arrest warrant for ex-PM Sheikh Hasina

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday issued orders of arrest warrant for exiled ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August after she was toppled from power by a student-led revolution.

Hasina's 15-year rule reportedly saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam called it a "remarkable day", while a relative of one of the hundreds who died in the uprising against her autocratic rule said they were "looking forward" to the trial.

"The court has... ordered the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and to produce her in court on November 18," Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters.

"Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings and crimes against humanity in July to August", Islam said.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for Obaidul Quader, the fugitive former general secretary of Hasina's Awami League party, as well as 44 others, who were not named.

Dozens of Hasina's allies were taken into custody after her regime collapsed, accused of culpability in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that deposed her.