Maor news in Japan: Takahashi, last Aum fugitive, arrested

Top news in <Japan Times>: Takahashi, last Aum fugitive, arrested

Police arrested Katsuya Takahashi, the last remaining fugitive of the former Aum Shinrikyo cult wanted in connection with the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, police sources said Friday.

The Friday morning arrest of Takahashi, 54, came after the arrest on June 3 of Naoko Kikuchi, who is also suspected of being involved in the attack that killed 13 people and made more than 6,000 others ill.

The search for Takahashi, who had been on the run for about 17 years, has been the subject of huge attention, as his testimony could lead to fresh revelations about the cult’s crimes. Aum founder Shoko Asahara and 12 of his followers are now on death row for their involvement in the gas attack.

Takahashi had been working for a construction company under the false name of Shinya Sakurai and living in a company dormitory in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. He went missing on the afternoon of June 4 after learning of Kikuchi’s arrest from one of his colleagues, police said earlier.

Takahashi and Kikuchi, who had also been on the run for 17 years, lived together in an apartment in Kawasaki from 2001 to around 2006. Kikuchi also went under a different name — Chizuko Sakurai — and they are said to have pretended to be a couple.

news@theasian.asia