A man linked to a Hokkaido police inspector arrested on a drug charge hanged himself in an apparent suicide Thursday in a detention facility in Sapporo's Higashi Ward, police sources said, noting this was the second suicide connected with the case.
The 40-year-old man, whose name was not provided, had been arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs. He allegedly had been providing former police inspector Yoshiaki Inaba, who has been charged with using stimulants, with information about criminal activity.
The man, who lived in Chuo Ward, was to appear before the Sapporo District Court on Sept. 11, but was found unconscious around 6:40 a.m. He was rushed to a hospital but was soon confirmed dead, the sources said.
A former police superintendent, also unnamed, who supervised Inaba hanged himself in a public lavatory in a park in the city's Minami Ward on July 31 after he was questioned by police regarding Inaba's handing of cases.
According to the sources, the Chuo Ward man was arrested when he showed up at a police station on July 5 and was carrying about 0.12 gram of stimulants. The man told investigators that Inaba was taking stimulant drugs, which led to the officer's arrest on July 10.
Officers later seized about 93 grams of stimulants and an unauthorized handgun from Inaba's condominium and served him with other arrest warrants twice.