A 24-year-old police officer was arrested Saturday on suspicion of abducting an elementary school girl and taking her for a 40-minute drive in Saga Prefecture.
Saga police said they have arrested Hiroyuki Tomita, of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, on suspicion of abducting the girl late Friday afternoon when she was on her way home from school alone.
Tomita has denied the allegation.
The police allege that Tomita drove with the girl in his car for about 40 minutes around the city of Tosu before releasing her on a street about 2 km from where he had picked her up.
Local residents found the girl crying and called the police. The girl's name and age are being withheld. The police said they identified Tomita based on the account of a witness who saw the girl being driven away in the car.
Tomita was off duty at the time of the alleged incident.