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Cultists held for '95 NPA chief shooting
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Takaji Kunimatsu
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Four members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult were arrested July 7 over the 1995 shooting of then National Police Agency chief Takaji Kunimatsu.
Kunimatsu was shot and seriously wounded just days after the Tokyo subway gassing attack in March 1995.
Tokyo police arrested Toshiyuki Kosugi, 39, Tetsuya Kibe, 49, and Mitsuo Sunaoshi -- on allegations of attempted murder -- and Koichi Ishikawa, 35, for allegedly trying to bomb the home of one of the cult's critics, and for possible involvement in the shooting.
Kosugi, who was a policeman at the time of the attack, confessed to the shooting more than a year later, in an embarrassment for the police force. But prosecutors later dropped the case, saying they had insufficient evidence to charge him.
The Japan Times Weekly: July 10, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
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