Three policemen armed with sub-machine guns have shot dead a fellow officer after he allegedly attempted to stop their gambling scam, a spokesman for Moscow police said Tuesday.


Vladimir Vershkov said in a telephone interview that the incident had occurred on Varshavskoye Shosse, south of Moscow, Friday afternoon when Major Vladimir Pashinov, 31, had approached three men dressed in camouflage uniforms and armed with Kalashnikov sub-machine guns.


"They opened fire on him," Vershkov said. "He (Pashinov) was fatally wounded and died within minutes. When these three men were detained, we found out they are policemen."


Russian mass media reported Pashinov had attempted to stop three armed policemen who had been involved getting protection money from gamblers who ran a shell game.


"We have a lot of contradictory versions about this incident," Vershkov said, adding that it was too early to make any conclusions.


Pashinov's death was the second killing of a policeman in Moscow this month. Igor Chernov-Yagodin, 34, was killed two weeks ago during a police operation against a criminal gang.