Ohsho Pres. Murderer May Have Used Rare Gun

Kyoto, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)--The suspect arrested for allegedly murdering the then president of "gyoza" dumpling restaurant chain Ohsho Food Service Corp. <9936> in 2013 may have used a foreign-made gun that was not widely distributed in Japan, investigative sources said Saturday.

The gun may have been equipped with a silencer, the sources also said.

On Friday, Yukio Tanaka, 56, a senior member of a group affiliated with major crime syndicate Kudo-kai, was arrested on suspicion of murdering Takayuki Ohigashi, the then 72-year-old president of the firm operating the "Gyoza no Ohsho" restaurant chain, and violating the firearms and swords control law.

Police will investigate how Tanaka obtained the gun and whether the murder was an organized crime.

Shortly past 4 a.m. Saturday (7 p.m. Friday GMT), Tanaka, who was serving his sentence in another case in Fukuoka Prison in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, was transferred to the Yamashina police office in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, where the investigation headquarters for the 2013 murder case has been set up.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]