Kiev, April 3 (IANS): Ukrainian authorities have detained 12 riot police officers on suspicion of involvement in the deaths of protestors in Kiev during the recent anti-government rallies, official said Thursday.

The commander of the so-called "special troops" was among the detainees, said Vasyl Zorya, spokesperson of Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, according to Xinhua.

Over 100 people were shot dead, most of them by snipers, during the violent dispersal of the anti-government rallies, which started in November to back Ukraine's European integration.

Ukraine's acting Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky Wednesday said that the members of the "black unit" of the Berkut riot police may be behind the massacre.

Makhnitsky said ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and members of his administration "gave orders to kill people" during the demonstrations.

Yanukovych Wednesday, speaking with the Russian and Western media, denied his responsibility for protestors' deaths.

In late February, Ukraine disbanded the 4,000-strong Berkut police.