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Japan subway attacks

January 3, 2012

A former member of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo has surrendered himself to the authorities after 16 years of being on the run. The group was responsible for nerve gas attacks in a Tokyo subway in 1995.

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Subway passengers are taken on stretchers from ambulances outside St. Luke's Hospital in Tokyo after falling victim of the nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways
Injured subway passengers are taken to a Tokyo hospitalImage: AP

Makoto Hirata, one of the former members of the Aum Shinrikyo ('supreme truth') turned himself in shortly before the New Year at a police station in Tokyo. According to the Kyodo News Agency, Hirata was arrested immediately after he spoke to the police. Hirata reportedly told investigators that he wanted to admit to his involvement in the subway attacks after he saw the devastation caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Shoko Asahara, right, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, accused of masterminding the 1995 nerve gas attack
Shoko Asahara is the cult's founderImage: AP

The Kyodo news agency also reported Hirata as saying that he wanted a sense of closure after being on the run for such a long time. He may also have been involved in the shooting of the chief of the National Police Agency in 1995, the same year when his group executed the deadly nerve gas attacks. Meanwhile, the police have arrested him on suspicion of being involved in the abduction of an office clerk in 1995. He is alleged to have driven the vehicle used for the kidnapping.

The 'deadly' attacks

Makoto Hirata, along with the leader of the cult Aum Shinrikyo, Shoko Asahara, have been held responsible for releasing sarin nerve gas on five subway trains in Tokyo on March 20, 1995. 12 people died from exposure to the noxious fumes while thousands remained ill for several days after the tragedy.

A police officer shows people the buildings of the Aum Shinrikyo sect's compound in Tokyo
Police and people at the Aum Shinrikyo compoundImage: AP

Pictures of the attack showed bodies lying around in the subway station and policemen wearing gas masks saving injured passengers. The photographs, published in several newspapers across the world, shattered Japan's image of a safe nation. While Makoto Hirata successfully evaded the police, the cult's founder, Shoko Asahara was sentenced to death in 2006.

Dismissed as fake

In a strange turn of events, French news agency AFP reports that the Japanese police initially turned Hirata away when he appeared at the police station. The police officer on duty dismissed him as a fake when Hirata told the officer, "I am Hirata on the special wanted list."

The officer did not consult with his colleagues and told Hirata to report to another police station, where he was ultimately arrested. Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported Hirata as having called a police hotline regarding his surrender, but he was not taken seriously. He denies having played any role in the shooting of the police officer in 1995.

Author: AFP, dpa, Reuters / mg
Editor: Sarah Berning

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