DHAKA (AFP) - Soldiers in Bangladesh uncovered 38 dead bodies of senior army officers in a mass grave Friday, including the chief of the border security force, bringing to 70 the number killed in a mutiny. Major General Shakil Ahmed, chief of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), was among the dead found in the grave which soldiers and sniffer dogs discovered following the revolt by rank-and-file border guards that began in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday. "The body of the chief of the BDR was found late Friday buried along with many others. It had been shot several times and was badly decomposed. fire brigade director Sheikh Mohammad Shahjalal said. "Colleagues identified him," he said. The fate of Ahmed's missing wife and teenage son was unknown, he said. A joint funeral for all of those killed was to be held once all bodies had been recovered and three days of national mourning were declared from Friday. A further 28 bodies were found, including some pulled from sewers and manholes, but the whereabouts of around 70 army officers taken hostage by the mutineers remained unclear, after the rebels surrendered and returned to barracks late Thursday. The search for more bodies was to continue Saturday. "We have arrested more than 200 Bangladesh Rifles troops who fled their barracks in civilian dress. "We were given orders to arrest the fleeing mutineers," a spokesman for the Rapid Action Battalion, Commander Abul Kalam Azad, told AFP. He said checkpoints had been set up at all routes leading out of Dhaka and surrounding the BDR barracks, with four suspected mutineers arrested in the northern city of Bogra. "We are searching buses and trucks for any other rebel troops," he added. The BDR guards, who were demanding better pay and conditions, surrendered after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned they were on a "suicidal" path that could end only in bloodshed. The premier visited some of the victims - both military personnel and their families - in hospital Friday and warned that those responsible for the deaths and injuries would face serious consequences. Despite her promise of an amnesty a day earlier for troops who surrendered, authorities said those who had killed would not get off lightly. "These senior military personnel have been killed in a planned and calculated manner. It's a grisly slaughter. We will punish these criminals," cabinet minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak told reporters. As calm returned Friday to Dhaka, one regular army officer held hostage by the guards told AFP of his escape as his captors opened fire indiscriminately.