A 21-year-old man was arrested Sunday in connection with the abduction of three Osaka men, two of whom are missing and believed dead, the police said.

A group of around 10 people led by the suspect, Ryuji Kobayashi, allegedly had the three, all aged 21, come to the city of Okayama in the early hours of June 19 and abducted them. They also took the victims' car. They beat them up, first in the city and then near a funeral hall in Tamano, Okayama Prefecture, before releasing one of them, according to police.

The case came to light Thursday after the man who was released contacted the police. One of the suspects is believed to have had a dispute with one of the missing men over a woman, according to investigators.

Kobayashi turned himself in early Sunday at a police station in Tamano, accompanied by his mother, after the police placed him on a wanted list on suspicion of assault.