TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a yakuza criminal syndicate and two accomplices for allegedly confining, assaulting and robbing a man in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture over a six-day period last year, reports the Asahi Shimbun (July 11).
On June 21 last year, Ryo Usui, a 38-year-old senior member of the Ochiai Kanamachi Rengo, Katsumata Sadari, 29, and plumber Shunta Takei, 26, worked together to kidnap the man, aged 24 at the time, into a car on a street near a park in Yokohama, handcuff him and imprison him in a house in the same city.
Over the next six days, the trio allegedly assaulted him by stabbing him with a drill and other implements, causing unspecified injuries. They also forced him to hand over 700,000 yen worth of necklaces and 3.8 million yen in cash.
According to police, the man suffered injuries that took two months to heal.
Confinement for “six days” due to financial troubles
Ochiai Kanamachi Rengo is an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the biggest criminal syndicate in Japan. According to a police source, the victim is a member of a rival gang. It is believed that there was some kind of financial trouble between the three suspects and the man.
Usui and his accomplices threatened the man over the six days. “Do you know why this happened? Did you steal 5 million yen? Give me some money in,” one of the suspects said. “Contact someone and transfer the money. We’ll set up the account, so just transfer the money.”
The suspects threatened the man through an acquaintance, demanding that a transfer of 10 million yen in cash to their bank.
The acquaintance later reported the incident to police, which resulted in the man being set free on June 27.
24-second video posted on social media
Police later learned that a video apparently shot during the six-day assault was posted on X.
In the 24-second clip, a man is shown sitting on the ground the floor while naked. He has handcuffs on his wrists.
Lined up in front of the man are tools, including chisels and drills, batons and stun guns. It is believed that the suspects used these implements to assault the man.
Another video posted on social media shows the man bleeding from his head. It is believed to have been taken immediately after an assault.
The investigation is ongoing. Police are investigating why the videos were taken and posted on social media and whether the three suspects were assisted by others.
