The interim government in Bangladesh said on Monday that it has sent a note verbale, or an unsigned diplomatic communique, to India formally seeking the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

“We have conveyed our request for Sheikh Hasina’s return for judicial purposes,” said the country’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain.

Hasina was ousted from power and forced to flee to India on August 5 amid widespread, student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been the prime minister of Bangladesh for 16 years.

Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on August 8.

The interim government has said it plans to investigate Hasina in connection with allegations that she ordered the killings and enforced disappearances of dissidents during the public uprising against her regime in July and August. A total of 51 cases have been filed against her, including 42 for murder.

India confirmed receiving the note verbale from the Bangladesh High Commission.

“At this time, we have no comment to offer on this matter,” the official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier on Monday, Bangladesh’s Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (Retired) Mohammed Jahangir Alam Chowdhury also said that a letter had been sent to India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking Hasina’s return.

“We have a prisoner exchange agreement with India”, Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune. “It will be carried out under that agreement.”

The extradition treaty signed by the two countries in 2013 states that “extradition may be refused if the offence for which it is requested is an offence of political character”. However, it also adds that offences such as murder will not be considered as being of “political character”, according to Times of India.

Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have been strained since Hasina fled to India, after which incidents of violence against religious minorities were reported in several parts of Bangladesh.

A commission formed by Yunus-led interim government also alleged on Saturday that India was involved in cases of enforced disappearances by security forces during Hasina’s 16-year rule.

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