TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the arrest of a 20-year-old man for allegedly posting a message on an online bulletin board that caused a bomb scare at Shibuya Station, reports TV Asahi (June 29).
On the night of April 3, Hikaru Otaka, a resident of Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture, posted the message on the 2-channel message board that said “a blast will go off at Shibuya Station in a random act of terror.” The post resulted in a search of the station by personnel, but no suspicious items were found.
Otaka, who has been charged with forcible obstruction of business through deception, admits to the allegations, telling the Shibuya Police Station he had become “irritated” on the day of the posting.
According to police, there have been at least 50 other posts on 2-channel with similar content regarding stations across the metropolis since the end of March. Otaka is now undergoing questioning about those other posts.
