Nov 18, Ratnapura: Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police N.K. Ilangakoon has assured the frightened residents of the gem mining town of Kahawatta in the Ratnapura district that the police will expedite investigations into the series of killings to return normalcy to the town soon.

IGP Ilangakoon this evening visited the Kotakethana village in Kahawatta area where a series of brutal killings of women have taken place.

The police chief had discussions with residents and law enforcement officials to ascertain the ground situation in the area, Police Media Spokesman senior Superintendent of Police Prishantha Jayakody said.

The town was plagued with the brutal killings of elderly women living alone. As many as 16 murders of women have been reported within the past year.

The IGP has noted that some of the murders were interconnected while some were isolated incidents.

Police had deployed a team of about 100 Special Task Force (STF) officers and established a new police post in the village to provide security to the villagers.

A former coordinating secretary of a government minister has been arrested along with several others for killing a mother and a daughter in this village and he is suspected of plotting six more similar killings to mislead law enforcement authorities from investigating him.

Meanwhile Minister W.D.J Seneviratne, whose name was associated with the suspect arrested, has asked the President to appoint a three-member committee of judges to take decisions about the convicts.

He has said that when he came to know that one of his coordinating secretaries is a suspect, he was removed from the post.

The Police Spokesman has said that all the suspects except the one in the most recent incident have been apprehended and legal action against them is proceeding.