The Public Security Intelligence Agency filed a request Friday with the Public Security Examination Commission to keep Aum Shinrikyo under surveillance for another three years.
The agency, which is under the Justice Ministry, claimed it believes Shoko Asahara, the cult's founder convicted of masterminding the cult's 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, still wields influence over the sect.
The surveillance, initially authorized in January 2000 and extended in February 2003, expires at the end of January.
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