In the latest scandal to hit Russia's police, members of an elite anti-riot force have written to the president complaining of serial violations by their superiors, a report said Monday.

The letter by some 10 police officers from a Moscow-based OMON riot police unit, copies of which have been sent to President Dmitry Medvedev and the general prosecutor's office, is largely unprecedented in the force.

The OMON (Special Purpose Police Unit) ? usually known for loyalty to the authorities ? is notorious for its work in dispersing opposition demonstrations.

"A mutiny is brewing in a division whose main task is to suppress people's street protests," said The New Times, an opposition weekly, which also interviewed the letter's authors.

In the letter, an excerpt of which was published in the magazine, the policemen said their chief had told them that "you are slaves and should do what I want" and that each person should detain three people by the end of the shift.

"We can work 10-15 days in a row, 17-20 hours a day without lunch," the letter added.

A Kremlin spokesperson said he was not immediately aware of the situation.

The policemen ? all with the rank of warrant officer and senior sergeant ? also told the magazine their battalion had become "a money-making structure".

Police officers make money protecting prostitutes and essentially renting out their underlings to disperse protests and help conduct hostile takeovers of businesses, among other tasks, the report said.

The New Times said that the authorities turn a blind eye to the clear violations and in return the riot police ask no questions when they are told to disperse protests which the police bosses say are paid for by "foreign special services".

The country's police have been rocked by scandals in the past months, including multiple deaths at the hands of police officers. The crimes resonated so deeply that Medvedev pledged drastic reforms in late December.

In November, provincial Russian police officer Alexei Dymovsky accused his superiors of corruption in a video posted on YouTube that became an immediate sensation and appealed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for help.

Instead, he was fired and then arrested in January.