Citing a lack of evidence, Tokyo prosecutors Wednesday released three former members of a Japanese doomsday cult, including an ex-police officer, arrested earlier this month over the shooting of Japan's police chief nine years ago.
The 1995 shooting of then National Police Agency chief Takaji Kunimatsu came just 10 days after the cult, the Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect), carried out a gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 and made thousands ill.
Police had believed at the time that the cult was behind the shooting, in which Kunimatsu was badly wounded, in an attempt to disrupt the investigation into the subway attack.
Tokyo prosecutors said they had released three former Aum members arrested on July 7 for attempted murder, including Toshiyuki Kosugi, 39, a former senior officer with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.
"The evidence was insufficient, making a trial difficult," a spokesman said.
Kosugi had confessed in 1996 to shooting Kunimatsu but police felt the confession was unreliable and did not press charges due to lack of evidence.
But he and the two others were arrested earlier this month after further questioning of Kosugi in which police gained new information that had apparently linked him and the other ex-members to the shooting, Japanese media said.
Another former Aum member, arrested over an explosion at a religious scholar's house which police believed had been carried out to confuse the investigation of the Kunimatsu shooting, was also released Wednesday.
Aum preached that the world was coming to an end and that followers must arm to prepare for calamities. Its former leader, Shoko Asahara, was sentenced to death in February for masterminding the subway attack.
Aum changed its name to Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in 2000, but Japanese authorities believe it is still a threat and keep its 1,600 members under strict surveillance.