A man believed to be a member of a rightist group was arrested after firing shots Thursday night at an apartment building in Tokyo where followers of Aum Shinrikyo live, police said Friday.
Takayuki Inoue, 27, of Chofu, western Tokyo, was holding a handgun when he was detained by a police officer shortly before midnight near the apartment building in Setagaya Ward, police said.
Four shots were fired at the door of the owner of the building, who lives on the first floor, they said. Nobody was injured in the incident.
Police suspect Inoue is linked to a rightwing group that waged a noise campaign in the neighborhood using loudspeaker trucks after Aum followers moved into the building in December.
Police had searched the rightist group's office in the same ward Thursday morning in connection with the arrest of one of its members who in late December drove a loudspeaker truck at a police officer patrolling near the apartment.
Police have kept the area under watch after a number of cultists got a lease from the owner of the building. and moved into apartments on the first and second floors.
Aum members were convicted or are standing trial for the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 in which 12 people were killed and thousands injured, as well as for a number of other heinous crimes. Aum founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is among those being tried for murder and other charges. The cult has pledged to abide by the law, but it is still regarded with suspicion and many communities have resisted moves by Aum members to live in their areas.
The Setagaya Ward office has rejected the application for domicile registration filed by the Aum followers living in the apartment building.