FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The Trelawny police say that among the 10 individuals arrested during the start of a security operation in the parish last Friday morning are men scheduled to be questioned in connection with the murder of a man whose headless body was discovered in a hole in Trelawny last week.

Superintendent Winston Milton, commander of the Trelawny Police Division, said the constabulary is withholding the identity of the beheaded man at this time in an effort to avoid jeopardising the probe.

The gruesome discovery of the decapitated body was made by a farmer in the district of Wire Fence in southern Trelawny last Monday.

On Friday, during a media briefing, Milton told journalists that the police are “aggressively pursuing investigation” of the man’s death.

Meanwhile, he said the security initiative, dubbed ‘Operation Reassure’, has been successful so far.

The 10 people arrested, he said, will be interviewed in the presence of their attorneys.

Milton’s colleague, Deputy Superintendent Courtney Wilson, said that among the 10 people arrested are lottery scamming suspects.

“We have made a number of arrests for breaches of the Law Reform Act. We have seized some instruments for future analysis, and we have recovered quite a number of lead sheets,” Wilson said.

A number of motorists were also ticketed for traffic offences.

Operation Reassure, the brainchild of commander of the Area One Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenford Miller, has been initiated in Trelawny, St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland to combat crime and restore public order.

The operation, described by Milton as multi-faceted, is a partnership between the police and the Jamaica Defence Force.

“The scope was very wide. We had a public order operation involving personnel from PSTEB (Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch), targeted raids, cordon and search involving personnel from C-TOC (Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch), the Area One headquarters, and the Trelawny Division,” Superintendent Milton said.

“We intend to continue this operation. As a matter of fact, I can reassure our citizens that they will see an increased presence of police in the public spaces across Trelawny as we continue our effort to ensure that the Yuletide season remains a safe one for the citizenry in this parish and those who traverse this space in order to conduct business,” he added.

Wilson added that the operation is intended to dominate public spaces.

“We have actually been out and about right across the length and breadth of the division. We have been into Race Course, Lime Tree, Spicy Hill, Clark’s Town, Kinloss, Duanvale,” Wilson said.

“It is also designed to slow down motorists who are speeding along this [Bogue Gate] leg of the highway. This is not just the only section of the highway that we will be doing it. We will be using strategic areas, areas designed to slow the vehicles, areas that are designated also as black spots,” he added.

Commander of the Trelawny Police Division Superintendent Winston Milton speaking with journalists at a news briefing on Friday.