Current doomsday cult leader reports Japanese authorities on setting up new group

TOKYO: The leader of a doomsday cult that released deadly nerve gas into Tokyo’s subway system in 1995 told Japanese authorities Monday he will set up a new group in an effort to distance followers from their jailed founder, an official and media reports said.

Fumihiro Joyu — who succeeded the mastermind of the attacks, Shoko Asahara, in 2002 — visited the Public Security Intelligence Agency Monday, said an agency spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity, under agency protocol.

The spokesman refused to provided further details. No one answered at Aleph‘s office in Tokyo, despite repeated phone calls.

Quoting unidentified agency officials, Kyodo News agency said Joyu formerly notified the agency that he and up to 60 followers will leave the Aum Shinrikyo.

The new group’s name and when it would be formed, was yet to be determined, the report said.

In September 2006, Japan’s top court upheld a 2004 death sentence for Asahara for the 1995 subway gassing and a string of other attacks that killed 27 people. The execution of the 52-year-old convict has yet to be carried out.

Joyu, 44, who used to be Asahara’s top lieutenant, has planned to discard texts and videos carrying Asahara’s teachings and renovate training centers.

In the past few years, the cult has been divided between the Joyu faction and those close to Asahara’s family.

Asahara’s group, previously known as Aum Shinrikyo, was renamed Aleph in 2000.

Japanese police, however, suspect Aleph still follows Asahara’s teachings, and the group remains under close surveillance by the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

Read Another Article

AUM Shinrikyo leader Joyu informs security agency that he is leaving cult
Houses of the Holy

Related News Articles Topic(s): Aum Shinrikyo Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Aum Shinrikyo Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog