Dhaka  - The death toll in the Bangladesh troop mutiny rose to 62 Friday with rescuers recovering more bodies of army officers from headquarters the paramilitary border guards in central Dhaka.

The rescue teams retrieved 38 bodies, including that of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) chief Major General Shakil Ahmed, from a mass grave inside the compound.

Director General of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Abu Nayeen Mohammad Shahidullah, who led the search operation, said the rest of the bodies had been found at different locations inside headquarters and its adjoining areas since Wednesday after the mutineers brutally gunned down their commanders at an annual conference.

Four of the dead were reported to have been civilians. The search operation was continuing.

Police meanwhile launched a drive to arrest mutineers who fled the headquarters after the rebellion, despite the prime minister offering a general amnesty.

More than 200 soldiers arrested by Friday morning faced charges of murder, looting and taking hostage civilians and commanders as well as violating the chain of command, police said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed Friday appointed a high-powered committee to launch an investigation into the mutiny at the border guard headquarters in Dhaka which ended Thursday.

The five-member committee headed by Home Affairs Minister Sahara Khatun will report back to the prime minister in seven days.

"We will look into why the troubles arose and who are the people who fuelled the soldiers' uprising," he told a press conference late Friday.

Authorities also appointed Brigadier General Moinul Hossain as new BDR chief as its former director general was killed in the mutiny.

Abul Kalam Azad, Hasina's press secretary, said the government would observe mourning Saturday and Sunday for the slayed army officers, who would be buried with full state honours.

Azad told reporters a general amnesty declared by Hasina for the rebel soldiers would not apply to those involved in murder, looting and other crimes. These "will not be spared," he said.

Hasina also visited the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka to see the bodies of the army officers and consoled their bereaved family members. She also assured their families of government support.

"A certain quarter was behind the incident as it is not possible to conduct such a major operation by any single person," she said. "We will launch an investigation to find out the mastermind of the mutiny."

Earlier Friday, 18 bodies had been retrieved from a mass grave inside the headquarters complex, said Sub-Inspector Nuruzzamna, an officer of central Dhaka's Lalbagh police station.

Police had already recovered 21 bodies, mainly officers, from inside and around the BDR compound and its adjoining areas, including storm drainage pipes.

Several thousand residents and relatives of the missing officers were seen waiting anxiously outside the compound as the rescue teams searched inside.

The rebellion ended late Thursday with the surrender of the mutineers, 35 hours after rebelling soldiers opened fire on their commanders.

The mutiny began Wednesday morning at an annual meeting to allow soldiers to air their grievances to their officers.

Several hundred enlisted men, enraged over a pay dispute and alleged repression and corruption by the commanders of the 67,000- strong force, took the officers hostage and then took control the 2.6-square-kilometre compound, located in a densely populated residential area of Dhaka. (dpa)