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Last Aum Shinrikyo Cult Member Arrested Near Manga Café

Police arrested Katsuya Takahashi, the last suspect in the Aum Shinrikyo cult's sarin gas attacks, after he left a manga café in Tokyo's Ota ward at around 9:20 a.m. on Friday. Takahashi had been a fugitive for 17 years since the religious Aum Shinrikyo cult used the chemical nerve agent in the Tokyo subway attacks of 1995.

The 54-year-old had entered the café at around 6:00 a.m. and drank something in an area where he did not have to show identitification. Police learned at around 8:30 a.m. that Takahashi was inside the 24-hour café, but they waited until he exited to approach him. Police reported that Takahashi admitted his identity and made no attempt to resist arrest.

Eleven days ago, Takahashi fled a company dormitory in Kawasaki that stands about 4.5 kilometers (about 2.8 miles) from the café. His former fellow Aum Shinrikyo member Naoko Kikuchi had been arrested on June 3. Kikuchi told authorities that she had been living with Takahashi for about 10 years. Police officers knew Takahashi was a manga fan, and they visited manga cafés in the area in the days before his arrest.

Among other crimes, Takahashi is suspected of conspiring with Aum Shinrikyo leaders in the Tokyo subway attacks of March 20, 1995. He allegedly transported cult member Toru Toyota to Tokyo's Naka-Meguro subway station, where Toyota released the nerve gas. The day's combined attacks sickened more that 6,000 people and killed 13.

Source: The Asahi Shimbun