A 16-year-old boy and several others in police custody on suspicion of extorting some 50 million yen from a former classmate allegedly intended to murder the victim in a faked suicide to cover up their wrongdoing, it was learned Wednesday.
The youths, however, were unable to carry out the plan before the victim's mother filed a complaint with police over the extortion, according to investigative sources.
Authorities are now questioning the suspects.
According to investigators, the group, seeking to silence the victim, in late February came up with a plan to kill him and make it look like a suicide by forcing him to write a suicide note.
Authorities believe the scheme failed because, despite the numerous calls made to the victim's cellular phone, the suspects could not reach him. By this time, the boy had come to refuse their escalating demands.
The victim's mother filed a complaint with police on March 14, and eight boys have so far been arrested in connection with the case.
The case drew widespread attention due to the huge amount of money the teens managed to squeeze out of the victimized boy. The youth reportedly had to use life insurance money his family received upon his father's death to help meet his extortionists' demands.