GUNMA (TR) – Police here have re-arrested a 50-year-old man on suspicion of robbery and murder after he was previously indicted for dismembering and dumping the body of an acquaintance on a riverbed, reports TBS News (July 23).
Masanao Arai, a resident of Honjo City, Saitama Prefecture, is accused of murdering 59-year-old Kazunori Obuchi in February of this year. Following the killing, Arai allegedly stole two of the victim’s cash cards.
Arai was previously arrested and indicted on charges including the abandonment of a corpse after he allegedly chopped up Obuchi’s body and dumped the remains along the banks of the Tone River in Isesaki City.
According to investigators, Arai drove to an area near Obuchi’s workplace on the day of the incident to make contact with him.
During police questioning, Arai denied the latest allegations of robbery and murder, simply stating, “I didn’t do it.”
The suspect and the victim were former colleagues who worked at the same company. Police are continuing their investigation to determine the nature of the dispute that led to the gruesome killing.
