India policeman 'kills officers'

Photographers rush to take a photo of one of the slain police officers

A police officer has allegedly confessed to killing five colleagues while guarding a bank in India's capital, Delhi.

The officer, who was injured in the incident, admitted to shooting his colleagues and killing two with an axe, a senior official said.

The slain officers and the accused were all from north-eastern Sikkim state.

The victims appeared to have been taken by surprise and shot at close range, officials said at the scene.

Axe attack

The incident happened at Dena Bank, near the office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Alok Kumar, in the Old Delhi neighbourhood.

"Constable Nari Lepcha told us during his interrogation that he sprayed 10 bullets on the five with his service rifle," Mr Kumar said.

Under questioning, Mr Lepcha said he shot three of the officers before another attacked him with an axe, injuring him in the scuffle, Mr Kumar said.

Delhi police guard one of the officers who was at the bank

Mr Lepcha grabbed the axe and killed two more officers with it, Mr Kumar said.

Police arriving at the scene found the officers were already dead.

The six officers, from the India Reserved Battalion, were members of a taskforce from Sikkim that had been brought in to guard the bank, India's junior home minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told India's Star TV.