Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KAMIKUISHIKI, JAPAN LENGTH: Medium
Reports said the bearded, blind guru was alone and meditating in a steel-plated mezzanine between floors of a chemical-storage building when police burst in. He was said to be in good condition.
Thick fog shrouded the rural compound near Mount Fuji where he was seized, and hundreds of police could be seen milling about. Hundreds of reporters and cameramen were gathered outside the compound.
As an armored, partly curtained police vehicle drove Asahara away, he was briefly visible, sitting in the back, clad in his trademark purple robes.
A swarm of media vehicles and helicopters chased the police convoy to metropolitan police headquarters in central Tokyo. There, Asahara was told he was being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in the March 20 subway attack that left 12 people dead and 5,500 others sickened, police said.
The arrest came almost four hours after thousands of police armed with warrants launched simultaneous dawn raids nationwide against the Aum Shinri Kyo cult.
Fourteen others also were arrested at the compound and other cult facilities, news reports said.
The raids came as press reports said two key cult members had confessed their roles in the attack. Police told reporters today they had proof of the cult's involvement in the attack.
``We have obtained evidence that the sect has produced sarin within its compound and discovered its members who were involved in the attacks on the subways,'' said Shieaki Ishikawa, a chief detective. Sarin is the nerve gas that permeated the subway.
The reports said Ikuo Hayashi, a cult doctor already in custody, had confessed to planting nerve gas packets in a subway car, and that Masami Tsuchiya, head of the sect's chemical team, had told police he had produced sarin.
The move against Asahara had long been anticipated while police painstakingly built their case. More than 200 of Asahara's followers had already been arrested since the subway attack, but all on charges unrelated to it.
Japanese media, in a pulp-fiction touch, had dubbed it ``X-Day'' - the day authorities would go in after Asahara himself.
No violence was reported, but officials were clearly fearful Asahara's arrest would spark retaliation from the cult. Cabinet members met in emergency session even as more than 2,000 police were carrying out their raids nationwide in search of Asahara.
``The most important thing now is to prevent further terrorist attacks from recurring,'' said Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.
The two months since the subway attack have been a time of turmoil and soul-searching in Japan. The gassing and a series of mysterious and violent incidents that followed have profoundly altered its self-image as a safe nation.
The head of the national police was shot and seriously wounded in a brazen daylight hit 10 days after the subway attack. The cult's top scientist was fatally stabbed in front of a mob of reporters. And burning bags that contained a form of cyanide were found in a public restroom at a huge train station.
The cult has repeatedly denied any involvement in the subway attacks or subsequent violence.
by CNB