Japan Arrests Fugitive Wanted in 1995 Gas Attack

Source: New York Times

The police on Sunday arrested one of the two remaining fugitive suspects from the doomsday cult behind the 1995 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway, Japanese media reported.

The reports said the police in the Tokyo suburb of Sagamihara arrested Naoko Kikuchi, 40, a former top member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Ms. Kikuchi is accused of manufacturing the sarin gas used in the attack, which killed 13 commuters and sickened at least 5,000 more.

Ms. Kikuchi had eluded the police for 17 years, even though her photograph has appeared on wanted posters across the nation. Her arrest came five months after another cult member wanted in connection with the attack, Makoto Hirata, surrendered to the police.

Cult members released the gas during the morning rush hour on March 20, 1995, as part of what they believed would be an apocalyptic battle with the government. The cult’s blind guru, Chizuo Matsumoto, who went by the name Shoko Asahara, was convicted of masterminding the attack and was sentenced to death.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/world/asia/japan-arrests-fugitive-from-1995-subway-gas-attack.html