President Iajuddin Ahmed, self-appointed head of the caretaker administration overseeing January polls, ordered the crackdown ahead of an opposition deadline to make key political changes.
Thousands of activists took to the streets, leaving 23 dead in clashes, from Friday as opposition parties accused the outgoing government of trying to rig the polls by appointing biased interim officials.
"If we get any concrete suggestions that a particular official can influence the election process and result, the caretaker head has directed us to scrutinise the suggestion and take immediate action against such officials," said A.F.M Solaiman Chowdhury, secretary of the Establishment Ministry which controls civil service personnel changes.
The president's order, which could result in hundreds of middle-ranking officials being moved to other duties, came as the caretaker body raced to convince opposition parties of its neutrality.
The main opposition Awami League has set a Friday deadline for the temporary administration to show it can hold elections that do not favour the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
At their first meeting on Wednesday the chief of the caretaker body and his 10 advisors, who will run the country until the next government wins power, said law and order had to be maintained.
The politically polarised country saw four days of deadly violence with pitched battles between police in riot gear and rock-throwing opposition supporters turning central Dhaka into a battlefield.
Groups of rival political activists armed with guns, bombs, and knives also clashed across the country, leaving more than 2,000 injured.
"The council of advisors has ordered all concerned officials to improve law and order and bring confidence among the people," said a statement issued by the new temporary administration.
"They discussed the necessary steps they would take to combat anarchy, lawlessness and indiscipline in the country," the statement added.
Police chiefs appointed by the BNP were also reshuffled on Wednesday in a move designed to win the confidence of the opposition.
Other high-ranking officials could face the axe before Friday, the opposition's deadline for the resumption of street protests.
After being sworn in on Sunday, the head of the interim government began work by scrapping the contracts of two controversial police and security officials considered loyal to the outgoing government.
But the opposition has said there will have to be more sackings, including those of the chief election commissioner and his deputies, to build real trust.
"We have reiterated that we will not take part in any elections supervised by the current chief election commissioner," Awami League secretary general Abdul Jalil told reporters on Wednesday.
"The chief election commissioner M.A. Aziz and his deputies must go. There will be no compromise on this issue," he added.
Under Aziz's stewardship the election commission has produced a voters' list containing more than 10 million phony voters, according to the Awami League, while many of its own supporters have been left off.
As well as the sackings, the opposition is demanding a revision of the voters list and full and unbiased coverage of opposition activities by state TV.
Bangladesh's caretaker government system is intended to prevent outgoing governments gaining an unfair advantage by politicising supposedly impartial bodies such as the election commission.
The opposition held a string of protests earlier this year to press its demands, saying it would boycott the polls unless they were met.
Protests against the government's original choice for head of the temporary administration, former Supreme Court judge K.M. Hasan -- a senior BNP-appointed government official during the late 1970s -- coincided with the end of the BNP-led coalition's five-year term last Friday.
On Sunday, President Ahmed named himself as caretaker chief after the parties failed to reach an agreement on a compromise candidate amid spiralling violence which analysts said could have led to a state of emergency being declared.
Police said that since Tuesday calm had been largely restored across the country.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006