A former employee of an ostrich-breeding company in Ibaraki Prefecture who was arrested Sunday for allegedly poisoning an employee of the firm had experience handling agricultural pesticides, sources said Monday.
However, it is not known if Katsuhei Sugeta, 58, had ever handled Benzoepin, the pesticide he allegedly mixed into an opened soft drink Saturday belonging to Masaharu Chujoya, a 59-year-old employee of Jonan Green System, the sources said.
Police suspect Sugeta, who had worked for the company for about 10 years until his dismissal May 6, may have stolen the chemical from the firm's stocks, according to police sources.
After he was arrested Sunday, Sugeta reportedly told investigators he laced the drink with the chemical out of frustration stemming from his dismissal, the sources said.
But it is not known why Sugeta targeted Chujoya, they said.
He was fired for negligence but had been allowed to continue living in the company dormitory in the town of Yasato along with the victim, they said.
Benzoepin, an organochlorine pesticide developed by a German pharmaceutical maker, is listed as a toxic substance by the government.
A case has been reported in Japan of a person suffering convulsions and derangement after exposure to the chemical.
Chujoya collapsed Saturday afternoon after drinking from a 350-ml can he had opened in the morning and placed in the dormitory's refrigerator before leaving for work at 7 a.m.
He was hospitalized and is listed in serious condition, police said.
Jonan Green System sells ostrich meat and eggs as well as products such as handbags and purses made from ostrich.
Sugeta emigrated to Brazil in the 1970s but returned to Japan in 1990. Chujoya, a native of Hokkaido, also once lived in Brazil before resettling in Japan around 1990, his acquaintances said.