TOKYO (TR) – As a part of an investigation into a brawl involving organized crime members last month in Shinjuku Ward, police on Tuesday apprehended a former leader of a bosozku biker gang for participation in the incident, reports TBS News (Mar. 15).
Police have accused Sozo Nishimura, a 35-year-old former leader of Uchikoshi Specter, of allegedly assaulting an upper-level member of the Yamaguchi-gumi on a street in the Kabukicho red-light district on February 15.
Nishimura, who has been charged with assault, has declined to comment on the charges.
Police had previously also accused Shinichi Kane, a 55-year-old upper-level member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, and three other gangsters of assault in the same case.
On Saturday, police raided an office of the Yamaguchi-gumi and seized evidence related to the incident, which is believed to be connected to an ongoing feud with the gang’s newly formed rival, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
On the same day as the fight, members of the Yamaguchi-gumi clashed with gangsters from Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. It was previously reported that the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi had held a meeting at a coffee shop in the area prior to the fracas.
Since the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed following the dissolution of the Yamaguchi-gumi in September, law enforcement has been taking measures to alleviate violence between the two gangs. Last week, the National Police Agency officially acknowledged that the groups are in a “state of confrontation.”
