Police on Saturday arrested two women and two youths from Osaka on suspicion of abandoning the body of a man discovered in a station wagon parked in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.

Atsuko Yada, a 38-year-old snack bar manager from Osaka's Tsurumi Ward, and Satoko Miyajima, a 26-year-old bar hostess from Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, were arrested in the parked car, police said. Yada had been driving the vehicle.

The two 18-year-old youths, also from Tsurumi Ward, allegedly traveled to Yatsushiro in the car with the two women. They were later arrested aboard a bullet train in Okayama Prefecture, the police said, adding that the four were acquaintances.

Investigators suspect the four took the body of the unidentified man from Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, to Yatsushiro between Friday and Saturday. The police said the white car may belong to one of the youths, one of whom has admitted to the charge, saying they went to Kumamoto to dump the body, which was wrapped in a blue vinyl sheet. The others have denied the charge,

The dead man was between 150 cm and 160 cm tall, aged 40 to 50 and appears to have been dead for several days. The body, which was found on the back seat around 5:20 a.m., was dressed and did not appear to have any serious injuries, according to investigators.

On Sunday, police determined the man had been strangled to death two days before. Yada and Miyajima have said he was a customer at Yada's bar, sources said.