By Chris Kiwawulo     
                    
Police have formed a special unit to hunt down the perpetrators of the brutal killings that have engulfed various parts of the country, especially in the central region.

Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba on Monday said they have formed a special team headed by Joel Aguma (formerly head of the disbanded Rapid Response Unit) to investigate the killings.

Sources revealed that the Police have since arrested more than 10 suspected murderers although the suspects' details were by press time still scanty.

"Some suspects have already been apprehended but I do not have a conclusive number because the team is still in the field and they have not confirmed the actual number because they are on and off the phone," Nabakooba noted.

Eight of the suspects were arrested in Wakiso in connection with two murders in Kakiri and are already in custody, Wakiso district Police commander Vincent Irama revealed on Monday.

The investigators will visit Wakiso, Nakaseke and Mityana, the districts where the murders have been reported, to ascertain whether claims of 'blood suckers' hold water.

On Sunday, President Yoweri Museveni directed the Police to investigate reports of alleged brutal killings and collection of victims' blood that he said has become a security threat in some parts of the country. "If they really kill people, we shall get them because this is the work of the Police," he said.

The President made the call on Sunday during a meeting with selected ex-combatants from Kabwogwe Sub-County in Nakaseke district who called on his at State House, Nakasero. The President's reaction followed on a report by the members of ex-combatants who said several residents in some areas, especially in the Central Region, had been massacred and blood sucked out of the bodies of the victims adding that the practice has spread to the districts of Wakiso and Mityana.  

Several residents in all the three districts believe the killers could be blood suckers, although they have failed to prove their allegations to Police. They say that killers administer chloroform through ventilators of the victims' houses before digging a hole in the wall to gain access to the house.

The victims at this time are dead asleep given the effect of chloroform and are slaughtered in their sleep. The thugs reportedly slit open the victims' throats and tap blood, and sometimes cut out their organs especially the heart and tongue.

But Police chiefs in Mityana and Wakiso have refuted claims that the perpetrators of the murders were 'blood suckers'.

The Wakiso district Police chief (Irama) told New Vision that reports of blood suckers were mere propaganda and that it could be the work of criminals who want to scare away people so they can steal their property.

"We have done investigations and found out that it is not true that the killers suck blood although we found a lot of blood at one of the scenes of crime. I think this was a creation of some members of the public, most probably the criminals to scare people. When you ask anyone about blood suckers, they tell you that they picked the allegation from colleagues," Irama noted.  

Mityana district police commander Henry Kintu echoed the same voice as Irama. He said the murders that have happened in Mityana in the past few days were connected to land wrangles and domestic violence.

Without mentioning names, Kintu accused politicians in Mityana of spreading malicious propaganda of 'blood suckers', saying this has resulted into mob justice because they urge residents to attack any suspicious persons.

"Some politicians are spreading rumours that there are blood suckers to instill fear among the people. They urge residents to sleep in the bushes to create an impression that the government has failed to protect them, which is not true. But we have embarked on a massive community policing exercise to sensitise the people and diffuse the propaganda," he noted.