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Gifu: Man faked suicide by placing shoes on bridge

in the town of Yaotsu
A 53-year-old man lined up a pair of shoes on the Shintabisoko Bridge in the town of Yaotsu in faking a suicide last month (Twitter)

GIFU (TR) – Gifu Prefectural Police have arrested a 53-year-old man for leading police to believe that he had committed suicide by leaping from a bridge in the town of Yaotsu last month, reports Nikkan Sports (May 8).

At around 5:40 a.m. on April 27, Tetsuo Saiki, a company employee, lined up one pair of shoes — which often signifies that a person has committed suicide — along the railing of the Shintabisoko Bridge, which stands about 200 meters above the Tabisoko River.

After a passerby tipped off police, 10 officers scoured the ravine below in search of a body over an 8-hour period.

Saiki, who has been accused of interfering with the duties of a public servant, admits to the allegations. “To see the police getting riled up was a means of stress relief,” the suspect was quoted by the Kamo Police Station.

Saiki became a person of interest after he was seen fleeing the area in a vehicle in security camera footage.