JAPAN – The dying man, who told the authorities that his name was Satoshi Kirishima, said he was wanted for being part of a radical group that carried out bombings in the 70s.
The Tip-off
The force had received a tip-off and went to the hospital near Tokyo last week to question the 70-year-old man, who has been on the run for nearly 50 years.
He told them he had terminal cancer and wanted to die using his real name instead of his alias and disclosed previously unknown details about the bombings, police said.
On Monday, four days after the questioning, the man died without police having confirmed his identity.
What DNA Tests Reveal
DNA tests conducted on him and on relatives of the suspect in the case showed they were compatible, Kyodo News reported. Police would not confirm that report.
‘We believe that the man who died at the hospital after claiming to be Satoshi Kirishima was actually the suspect,’ National Police Agency chief Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said.
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Who was Kirishima?
Born in 1954, Kirishima was a university student in Tokyo when he became involved in extremism and joined the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, a militant group that carried out a series of bombings targeting major Japanese companies in the 70s.
Eight people died and more than 160 were injured in the 1975 bombing of a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries building, which was blamed on the group.
His List of Crimes
Kirishima was allegedly involved in a number of the bombings.
He was wanted on charges of setting off a time bomb in a building in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district in April 1975 in which no one was injured.
Though not a key member of the group, he was said to be the only one of 10 members who was never caught.
How he Avoided Detection
While on the run, Kirishima did not have a mobile phone or health insurance and had his salary paid in cash to avoid detection, according to NHK public television.
Friday police investigators raided a constructi
A photo on Kirishima’s wanted poster shows him smiling, with long hair and glasses.
