Police have now arrested four public officials here on suspicion of peddling influence and pressuring subordinates to vote for former Nagano Vice Gov. Fumitaka Ikeda in the Oct. 15 Nagano gubernatorial election.
The latest suspect, Masakazu Ichinose, 68, deputy mayor of Shiojiri, was arrested Friday for allegedly violating the Public Office Election Law in connection with the landmark race, won by novelist Yasuo Tanaka.
On Thursday, police arrested Minoru Nakamura, 59, head of the prefectural government's construction office. This followed the arrests Wednesday of Eiichi Kubota, deputy head of the construction office, and Kimio Matsumura, head of Shiojiri's general affairs department.
All were arrested on similar charges to Ichinose.