At least six secret prisons are holding gay men in Russia's Chechen Republic, with prisoners tortured until families pay police large bribes, it has been claimed.

Earlier this month it was revealed police in the predominantly Muslim republic rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality and that at least three of them had been killed.

Reports had initially centred on two jails in the villages of Argun and Tsotsi-Yurt. But Novaya Gazeta, the respected Russian newspaper that made the initial claims, now says there are a further four prisons illegally holding men for their sexual orientation.

At least six secret prisons are holding gay men in Russia's Chechen Republic, with prisoners tortured until families pay police large bribes, it has been claimed. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (pictured) has denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals in his predominately Muslim republic

The newspaper also claims that the men, who face torture in jail, are only released once their families offer bribes to police.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov last week denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals and insisted one man declared dead was 'in good health and at home'.

But his denial was then dismissed by many gay men forced to flee the country, one of whom told the AFP news agency: 'I had to lie or die.'

Campaigners said gay men are being tortured with electric shocks and beaten to death, or ordered to 'sit on bottles' as punishment.

Images of people who claim to have been detained at the camps show them with large bruises on their legs, and what appears to be burns on their backside.

One survivor, known only as Adam, said metal clamps were attached to his fingers and toes before shockwaves were sent through his body, as part of a campaign of torture at an informal detention facility.

Families are believed to be 'shamed' for not snitching on homosexuals, who are publicly humiliated, beaten up and electric shocked in prisons. Pictured: A former military base in the city of Argun, believed to be the location of one of the camps

Adam also told how he was beaten with wooden sticks or metal rods as his torturers shouted abuse at him and demanded to know the names of other gay men.

Chechnya, which has come under fire from LGBT groups for its institutional homophobia, is run by Kadyrov, a father-of-ten who has been accused of ordering extra-judicial killings.

It was feared that he is sanctioning the killings of homosexuals after his spokesman after Alvi Karimov denied there were any gays in Chechnya at all.

Karimov added: 'You can't detain and harass someone who doesn't exist in the republic.

'If there were such people in the Chechen republic, law enforcement wouldn't have a problem with them because their relatives would send them to a place of no return.'

One former gay inmate, known only as Adam, said metal clamps were attached to his fingers and toes before shockwaves were sent through his body as part of a campaign of torture at an secret prison in Chechnya. Pictured: Another victim speaking out on TV in Germany

Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was concerned about human rights violations but had no reason to believe reports about the persecution of gay men in Chechnya.

President Vladimir Putin last week met Kadyrov, who dismissed the 'provocative' reports.

The reports, however, have been taken seriously by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and prominent international organisations, which have urged the Russian government to investigate.

Lavrov told reporters Monday that Russian officials haven't seen any information confirming the reports but added that Moscow is concerned about 'any human rights violations.'