After arresting an Osaka man Tuesday on suspicion of bribing a municipal official, investigators were forced to release him just hours later when they realized the statute of limitations on the case had expired.

The 65-year-old head of a civil engineering firm in Naniwa Ward was arrested on suspicion of paying some 30 million yen in bribes to an Osaka municipal official in connection with a scandal-hit city waste incinerator contract.

However, special investigators with the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office later announced they had released the man because the three-year statute of limitations on the case had expired. They said they had mistakenly calculated the length of time the man had been overseas since the alleged act took place. The statute of limitations is suspended during such periods.

The man allegedly paid the bribes to Eiji Tashiro, a senior official with the city's Environmental Management Bureau.