Arrest Warrant Issued For Gangster Over 2013 Killing Of Company President
Japanese police officials have obtained an arrest warrant for an imprisoned gangster. They want to arrest him in connection with a separate case. They believe he was involved in the 2013 murder of the former president of the company that operates the Gyoza no Ohsho restaurant chain.
In December 2013, Ohigashi Takayuki was shot dead in front of the main office of his firm, Ohsho Food Service. The office is located in Kyoto City. Ohigashi was 72 years old at the time of his death.
Investigators say a warrant has been issued for a 56-year-old senior member of the Fukuoka-based Kudo-kai group. Japanese authorities have designated Kudo-kai as a particularly dangerous crime syndicate.
Investigators suspect that the gangster killed Ohigashi with a gun. They say DNA collected from cigarette butts near the murder scene matched that of the suspect.
No links have been confirmed between the suspect and Ohigashi. Investigators think the suspect may have attacked Ohigashi at the request of someone else. They plan to look further into the background of the incident.
The gangster was arrested and indicted four years ago for firing a gun at a car in Fukuoka City in 2008. The vehicle was carrying employees of the Obayashi Corporation, a major general contractor. The gangster is currently serving his sentence.
Ohsho Food Service operates Chinese food restaurants across Japan and overseas. The company says on its website that it opened its first restaurant in Kyoto City in 1967. It had a total of 734 outlets as of this March. The firm employs about 2,300 people. It had annual sales of 84.7 billion yen, or about 580 million dollars, during the last fiscal year.
Ohigashi was a brother-in-law of the firm's founder. He is said to have successfully developed the company into a major restaurant chain operator in Japan.