A man who was included in a nationwide wanted list after an acid attack earlier in the week at a Tokyo subway station was arrested Saturday in Okinawa, sources in the investigation said.
Hirotaka Hanamori, 25, is suspected of throwing sulfuric acid at a 22-year-old man at Tokyo Metro Co.’s Shirokane Takanawa station in the capital’s Minato district on Tuesday night.
The suspect refuses to answer police questions about the allegations, sources said.
The man suffered serious injuries to his face and eyes, which will take about six months to heal, while a woman suffered burns to her legs, according to police.
Hanamori, who is from the city of Shizuoka, allegedly threw the acid at the man as he passed him in an elevator shortly after nine o’clock on Tuesday night. Hanamori and the victim knew each other at the university, according to police.
The woman received burns after slipping on the liquid to the ground and falling into it, police have reported.
Hanamori fled the station after the attack.
Security camera footage showed a Hanamori-like man arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday from Shizuoka and was found in the vicinity of the male victim’s workplace. After the incident, the suspect took a shinkansen from Shinagawa station to return home the same day.
Police had been tracking Hanamori’s whereabouts when he was seen on a security camera at Shizuoka station this Wednesday afternoon.
The incident occurred in a high-end residential area, amid tightening security, as the Tokyo Paralympics opened the same day, prompting police to seal the station entrance. with agents on alert.
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