Investigators survey the site where a police officer was attacked and had his gun stolen by two men in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, on May 14.

Gifu Prefectural Police put two Japanese-Brazilians on the nationwide wanted list on suspicion that they snatched the gun from the officer.

The suspects were identified as Eguti Mauro de Souza, 22, of Seto, and Eguti Jorge Edgar de Souza, 26, of Toyota, both in Aichi Prefecture.

Police said they identified the suspects through fingerprints found on a minivehicle used to evade police.

A postal worker who was collecting mail found the .38-caliber revolver inside an envelope in a post box in front of a municipal facility in Yamazoe, just east of Nara.

The gun was allegedly stolen when the two suspects attacked a 23-year-old officer at Tajimi police station.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 21, 2005
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