The National Police Agency and retired NPA officials said Thursday three people will share a ¥20 million reward for providing information that led to the arrests of two Aum Shinrikyo fugitives wanted in connection with the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Such payments under the state-funded reward system launched in May 2007 will be made for the first time since the agency decided in 2009 to offer ¥10 million in cash rewards to four parties for helping police arrest Tatsuya Ichihashi, who was wanted in the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
Although the NPA declined to specify the recipients out of concern that doing so could cause them problems, of the three, one will be paid for providing information about Naoko Kikuchi, 40, and the other two for giving information about Katsuya Takahashi, 54. The two long-wanted fugitives were arrested in June.
"We are grateful for their support, which led to the arrests. There are other cases that are still unsolved, and we hope to receive more information" about those cases, an NPA official said.
Under the reward system, police are still receiving information on 18 cases, including one involving the murder of a family of four in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in 2000.