TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested seven persons, including a member a criminal syndicate, over the alleged group assault of two pedestrians in Sumida Ward last year, reports TBS News (Mar. 12).
Last November, Takuya Hashizume, a 33-year-old member of the Kudo-kai, and six other suspects allegedly attacked two male pedestrians on a road near JR Kinshicho Station.
The victims suffered light injuries. All of the suspects deny the allegations, police said.
Just before the incident, the suspects had been out drinking. Upon encountering the victims, one of the suspects said, “Do you think can pass through here?”
The suspects then shoved the chests of the victims and dragged them to the ground, police said.
The suspects surfaced as persons of interest after they were identified through security camera footage, which showed more than 10 persons engaging in the assault.
Previous arrest
In 2017, police arrested Hashizumi on suspicion of carrying out a type of fraud known as tokushu sagi, whereby the a victim is defrauded via the telephone.
In that case, he was alleged to have participated in the swindle of 3.2 million yen from an elderly woman living in Sumida.
In carrying out the ruse, one suspect posed as the son of the woman on the telephone and falsely explained that he needed money to cover a work-related problem.
