20 years after Tokyo subway sarin attack, no full investigation still

Rescuers carrying a stretcher arriving at a subway station on March 20, 1995, after the sarin gas attack in Tokyo. (Photo: Junji Kurokawa/AFP)

TOKYO: Japan observes on Friday (Mar 20), the 20th anniversary of the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack. Twenty years on, however, the motivation behind this act of terrorism still remain unclear, as the government has yet to conduct a full investigation into the incident.

On March 20, 1995, panic spread across the nation when doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo released deadly sarin gas at five underground stations in the capital Tokyo, killing a dozen commuters and injured thousands more.

Among the targets was Kasumigaseki Station, located just below the seat of the Japanese government. The attack was an unprecedented terrorist strike by doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, which continues to have influence in Japan.

According to Kenji Utsunomiya, a lawyer who works with victims of the gas attack, Aum Shinrikyo still remains a threat to the nation, as its ideology persists in new religious sects.

“According to the Public Security Intelligence Agency, there are 1,600 followers. Every year, they have 100 to 200 more,” he said.

Following the attack, more than a dozen members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect have been tried and sentenced to death. Three suspects were arrested in 2011, and their trials are still ongoing.