Tokyo, Feb 27 (IANS) A Japanese man, who confessed to be a fugitive linked to a series of terrorist bombings in Japan during the 1970s before he died last month, was confirmed the suspect, local media reported on Tuesday.
Results from DNA tests run by Japanese law enforcement identified the dead man as the alleged bomber Satoshi Kirishima, national news agency Kyodo reported, citing an investigative source.
The individual, identified as the alleged bomber Satoshi Kirishima, aged 70, disclosed his affiliation with the extremist group East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front shortly before succumbing to illness in a hospital, Xinhua news agency reported.
Suspecting Kirishima’s involvement in four additional bombing incidents that occurred in 1975, police referred all five cases to prosecutors Tuesday on alleged violation of the explosives control act and suspicion of attempted murder, the report said.
DNA tests conducted on the man and his relatives have also corroborated their familial relationship.
Kirishima had long been wanted on suspicion that he planted and detonated a homemade bomb in a building in Tokyo’s Ginza district on April 19, 1975. He was placed on a nationwide wanted list the following month.
Under the false name Hiroshi Uchida, he had worked for approximately four decades as an employee at a construction company in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, and had evaded law enforcement for 49 years as a fugitive, prompting ongoing investigations into his methods of evasion and potential assistance from others.
Kirishima denied his connection to the specific incident that landed him on the wanted list but hinted at involvement in other bombings targeting a construction firm, Kyodo reported citing police interviews at the hospital.
The suspect, who revealed his identity four days before his death on Jan. 29 following treatment for terminal stomach cancer, asserted that he had been alone during his time as a fugitive and expressed remorse for his participation in the bombings.
–IANS
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