Tokyo commuters had a flashback to the March 1995 sarin attack on the subway system Thursday when four suspected pickpockets released what appeared to be mace at a railway station while trying to flee police, injuring 27 people.
One of the four, South Korean national Chim Byong Gun, 38, was arrested on the spot for causing injuries by using the spray on a platform at JR Nishi-Nippori Station in Arakawa Ward at 9:50 a.m., they said.
Most of the injuries were light, but two officers from the Metropolitan Police Department's Komagome Police Station suffered severe throat and and skin injuries.