A 7-year-old elementary school boy was released unhurt Monday afternoon in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward about eight hours after he was kidnapped in the area and after his mother handed 5 million yen in ransom to a bicycle courier, police said.
The courier delivered the money to the appointed drop-off, but as of 7 p.m. no one had attempted to pick it up, police said.
Yuta Seto, a first-grader at the private Shukutoku Elementary School, was released from a station wagon at Tokiwadai Station on the Tobu Tojo Line and was recovered at around 4:05 p.m. near Oyama Station, two stops away on the same line, police said.