The final three Aum Shinrikyo fugitives are now in custody, but groups working to rescue brainwashed followers from its main successor group are continuing their fight against the cult.

In a campaign to save the roughly 1,500 disciples who remain loyal to the cult, which changed its name to Aleph in 2000, the groups are calling on the former fugitives and other ex-members to warn the young about the risks it still poses.

"My goal is to make every single Aum follower leave the cult. . . . I've got to do something about this problem" while I'm still strong enough, Hiroyuki Nagaoka, the 74-year-old head of a group of relatives of former or current cult members, told The Japan Times on Friday.