Tokyo On Alert Over Cult Forecast; 53 Children Taken Into Custody
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TOKYO — Helicopters patrolled Tokyo’s skies and police stood watch over major intersections today because of fears that the cult suspected in a nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subways might strike again.
Streets and subway trains were unusually empty, and shopping centers and several schools in Tokyo’s central Shinjuku district were closed due to the threat of a possible attack.
Police conducted raids Friday at more than 130 facilities linked to the Aum Supreme Truth cult. In a raid at the cult’s main commune, police carried away 53 children. Eight were hospitalized for malnutrition, including several with pneumonia, reports said.
The cult has repeatedly denied involvement in subway terror, and it has denounced violence.
But in a book published last month, cult leader Shoko Asahara had predicted that disaster would strike Tokyo today.
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