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Yamanashi cops arrest 4 Japanese in shooting death of countryman in Manila

Shinsuke Toba was shot and killed as he rode inside a taxi in 2014
Shinsuke Toba was shot and killed as he rode inside a taxi in Manila in 2014

YAMANASHI (TR) – Yamanashi Prefectural Police on Thursday arrested four Japanese nationals in the shooting death of a Japanese man from Nirasaki City in Manila two years ago, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (May 13).

Police have accused Toshihiko Iwama, 42, two other men and one woman of participating in the killing of Shinsuke Toba, 32, who was shot dead inside a taxi on a street in the Philippine capital by a gunman riding a motorcycle on October 18, 2014.

Toba operated an osteopathic clinic in Nirasaki. Prior to the incident, he had traveled to Manila with the suspects.

According to the report, a traveler’s insurance policy valued at 100 million yen had been taken out on Toba. Police suspect that the suspects committed the crime in order to receive the insurance payment.

In September of last year, Tatsuya Nakamura, 43, a business acquaintance of Toba, was also killed by a gunman in Manila. Police are now investigating whether there is a connection between the killings of Toba and Nakamura.