Mexico city, Jan 4 (IANS): The state government of Morelos in Mexico announced that it was interrogating the suspected murderers of Gisela Raquel Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, who was assassinated a day after she took charge of the office.

Morelos governor Graco Ramirez on Sunday said the mayor was murdered on Saturday by an organised crime gang named "Los Rojos", Xinhua reported.

Mota Ocampo, who had only taken up her position as mayor on January 1, was killed in her house by a group of assassins.

The killers escaped in a van but police chased them, killing two of the suspects and capturing the other two.

According to Ramirez, "this was an act carried out by organised crime against constitutional order and democracy. Mota Ocampo was an honest and committed public servant."

The mayor belonged to the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). After the attack, her aides called the police.

Since then, a security mechanism has been put in place to protect mayors across Morelos, including its capital Cuernavaca.

Also on Sunday, the state's public security commission confirmed that Mota Ocampo was killed by Los Rojos for refusing to ally with them. It added that the two captured suspects were a minor and a woman.