A UPFA Pradeshiya Sabha member has been arrested over a series of rapes and murders of women in Kahawatta.
Lokugamhewage Dharmasiri, who is a former secretary of a cabinet minister, was arrested after in February after a 52-year old woman and her 19-year old daughter.
Police said that the politician ordered further killings to prove his innocence and convince authorities that a serial killer was on the loose.
Four other women were killed, some of whom were also raped.
Several police officers have been deployed in the town to arrest five further suspects.
The Office-In-Charge however was transferred while on the verge of a breakthrough in the investigations, alleged the Daily Mirror.
Sources told the newspaper that pressure from a politician was the cause for the sudden transfer.