Tokyo: Japanese police arrested a man for weapons possession early today morning after he confessed to fatally stabbing a former health official in a high-profile crime that authorities believe is linked to the loss of millions of pension records.

The man turned himself in to police late yesterday, saying he had killed the retired vice health minister, found dead with his wife who was also killed in the attack. Police initially said he confessed to attacking both of them.

Police are still questioning him in connection with those stabbings and that of the wife of another retired bureaucrat, a metropolitan police official said. The 45-year-old man was arrested for possessing a knife, which was found bloodstained in the back of his car, a police spokeswoman said.

Both police officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. It was not clear why the man was not arrested for the crime he claimed to have committed. Kyodo News agency reported that the man told police that he killed the official because of his anger over the death of his pet, for which he held a health official responsible.

Police, however, have said they suspect the stabbings were connected to the Health Ministry s mishandling of millions of pension records - a debacle that has drawn intense ire from the public, many of whom lost their retirement funds as a result.

Both of the targeted officials were retired vice health ministers who were key figures in setting up the pension system 20 years ago.

Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66,and his wife Michiko, 61,were found dead Tuesday near the doorway of their home in Saitama, just outside Tokyo after being stabbed repeatedly.

Source : PTI