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Final suspect in 1995 Tokyo subway attack arrested

Posted June. 16, 2012 06:25,   

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Japanese police on Friday arrested a man believed to be the last suspect from Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult that orchestrated a deadly poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

Katsuya Takahashi, 54, was arrested at a comic book café in downtown Tokyo on Friday morning after police were tipped off by a café employee.

Takahashi, a former bodyguard for the cult`s leader Shoko Asahara, had been wanted for his suspected role in the sarin gas attack on five Tokyo subway trains. Twelve people were killed and 5,553 were injured in the attack held March 20, 1995.

After hiding with fellow cult member Naoko Kikuchi, Takahashi finally settled in Kawasaki and worked for a construction company, avoiding capture for years by using the fake name Shinya Sakurai. He had been living by himself since Kikuchi began living with another man.

After learning of his recent whereabouts and appearances following the June 3 arrest of Kikuchi, Japanese police went all out to arrest the last remaining fugitive, dispersing wanted leaflets on him across the country.



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