New Delhi, March 11: Five Sikkim Police personnel guarding a bank here were allegedly gunned down early today by a colleague after they tried to sodomise him, a senior police official said.

Constable Nari Lepcha sprayed 10 bullets on the five others with his service rifle and attacked them with an axe after they reportedly tried to sodomise him, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central district) Alok Kumar said.

The six policemen, from an India Reserved Battalion, were posted to guard a branch of Dena Bank located opposite Golcha cinema hall and a short distance down the road from the office of the deputy commissioner of police at Daryaganj.

Lepcha, who was also injured in a scuffle with his colleagues, initially told Delhi Police that the others were killed by another Sikkim Police constable, Jai Bahadur Subba.

Subba, earlier posted at the bank but now part of a unit based in the Civil Lines, denied his involvement.

On sustained questioning, Lepcha broke down and admitted he had killed the others, Kumar said.

Lepcha said he first gunned down three of his colleagues.

One of the others then attacked Lepcha with an axe, injuring him.

Lepcha then grabbed the axe and killed two others by hacking and shooting them, Kumar said.

"We got a call about the firing in the bank at around 4.52 am.

When police teams reached the spot, five personnel of Sikkim Police were found dead," he said.

The dead men were identified as Lance Naiks Kumar Basnet and Vishal Tiwari, and Constables Lakshman Subba, Karma Bhutia and Santabir Tamang.

The policemen were posted at the bank to guard its cash chest and lived in the premises.

Last night, all of them had consumed alcohol before an attempt to sodomise Lepcha was made, Kumar said.

Lepcha made the call to inform Delhi Police about the incident and he was found by policemen hiding in a bathroom.

Lepcha claimed Jai Bahadur Subba had come to the bank and killed the others and injured him after an argument, Kumar said.

The Sikkim Govt has said it will pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the kin of each of the dead policemen.

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