A senior Aum Shinrikyo figure told the Tokyo District Court on Thursday that soon after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995, he was ordered to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for water to sell in Kobe.
Hayashi, 40, was testifying for the prosecution in the trial of cult founder Shoko Asahara. Responding to questions from Asahara's defense lawyers, Hayashi said he heard from another cultist that Asahara was planning to sell the bottled water to quake victims, saying it would earn hundreds of millions of yen. Hayashi did not elaborate on whether the plan was actually carried out.
Hayashi is standing trial for his alleged involvement in the deadly March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, the June 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, and the foiled May 1995 cyanide gas attack at Shinjuku Station.