TOKYO — The cult suspected of releasing deadly sarin gas in Tokyo’s subways last month earlier stashed thousands of bags containing the nerve gas in the mountains, an informant reportedly told police.
The diluted sarin contained in the 25,000 plastic bags, similar to those used for intravenous injections, would be enough to kill millions of people, the Weekly Bunshun magazine reported in editions today.
Police declined to comment on the report.
In raids on cult facilities across Japan, investigators have seized several tons of chemicals and scientific equipment needed to produce sarin.
Sarin is a clear liquid that evaporates into a lethal nerve gas.
The cult, Aum Shinrikyo or “Supreme Truth,” has repeatedly denied involvement in the March 20 attacks, which hit five Tokyo subway trains, killing 11 people and sickening 5,500 others. It also denies making sarin.
The Weekly Bunshun reported that an informant from the group told police that several members posing as hikers buried the bags of sarin at a mountain range in southern Japan in August