GUNMA (TR) – Police have arrested a man on suspicion of dumping the dismembered remains of a 59-year-old acquaintance on a riverbed in Isesaki City earlier this year, reports Nippon News Network (June 18).
Masanao Arai is accused of burying the torso of Kazunori Obuchi in the dirt along the Tone River sometime in March. Upon questioning, Arai denied the allegations.
Obuchi had been unaccounted for since February, when his older sister contacted police to report that her brother, who lived alone, had vanished. During a subsequent search, investigators discovered Obuchi’s buried torso on the riverbed in April.
The victim’s head and limbs have not been found.
Prior to his latest arrest for the abandonment of a corpse, Arai had already been taken into police custody on suspicion of theft after he allegedly withdrew cash using Obuchi’s ATM card.
Police are treating the case as a murder and suspect Arai’s direct involvement in the killing and dismemberment of the victim.
