The death toll of Wednesday's mutiny by soldiers of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) may stand at around 50, said the country's State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Quamrul Islam.
Islam said this to reporters awaiting outside the BDR Headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday morning after he visited the headquarters complex along with Home Minister Sahara Khatun to observe the disarmament process of the rebel soldiers.
"It seems that more or less 50 people were killed due to the incident," the state minister said.
Earlier, three civilians and two senior army officers were confirmed to be killed while more than 30 were injured during the gunfire which erupted on Wednesday morning as BDR soldiers staged revolt against their commanding officers deputed from army.
Many army officers and their family members were caught up inside their residences at the BDR headquarters since the mutineers went berserk.
Islam said "We have arranged safe exit of those who were trapped inside the BDR headquarters."
The rebel soldiers, who revolted to realize demands of higher salary and better facilities, started to lay down their arms earlier Thursday after rounds of closed-door talks with the government.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday evening during the negotiation meeting with 14 rebel representatives announced general amnesty to them.
The BDR soldiers, whose primary task is guarding the country's border line, told media they were tortured by army and their basic rights have been deprived for long time.
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2009)