Indian man in Japan arrested on charges of using curry spices as weapon in robbery attempt
Spicy tactics used in attempted theft of over 7 million yen, police say.
In many societies, food is one of the fist touchpoints people have with foreign cultures, and so in Japan mentions of India will almost always bring to mind thoughts of curry and other aromatic examples of Indian cuisine. So it's both startling, and yet also sort of within imagination, that an Indian resident of Japan has been arrested on assault charges in which the weapon used was cooking spices.
At around 3:20 in the afternoon on March 14, a 52-year-old Japanese man was walking on the street in the town of Yoshikawa, Saitama Prefecture, when he was approached by a group of four Indian and Nepalese men who, according to the Saitama Prefectural Police, attempted to steal the business bag he was carrying. Rather than brandish a knife, baseball bat, or any other of the melee weapons used by criminals in firearms-strict Japan, the attackers instead smeared powdered cooking spices 'of the sort used in curry' according to reports, on the man's face and into his eyes, in an attempt to blind and incapacitate him. The victim was able to fight back, though, hanging on to his bag and yelling loudly until the attacker gave up and fled the scene.
It was a pretty brazen plan, but the would-be robbers apparently had reason to think this could be a very big score for them. The man they attacked is the president of dispatch worker staffing services company, which one of the attackers, a 31-year-old Indian man who lives in Ibaraki Prefecture, was an employee of at the time. On that day, the president was in Yoshikawa to make salary payments to workers dispatched by his company, and apparently makes such payments in cash, and so had roughly 7.8 million yen (US$54,000) in cash in his bag. Investigators believe the attackers knew the man would have a substantial amount of money on him while he was in Yoshikawa, which is why they decided to make their move in the middle of the afternoon.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he received medical treatment for conjunctiva (inflammation of the eyes), but does not appear to have suffered permanent vision damage in the attack. The Saitama Prefectural Police, using security camera footage, have identified and arrested the four men they believe were involved in the attack on charges of assault and attempted robbery.
Sources: Yomiuri Shimbun via Livedoor News via Jin, NHK News Web, Sankei Shimbun via Hachima Kiko
Top image ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SoraNews24
42 minutes ago
- SoraNews24
Hokkaido police refuse to acknowledge theft that really seems like a theft
Unfortunately, not technically being a theft won't bring the victim's car back. Just as I was getting over thinking about how fraud was a strange thing, it turns out old-fashioned theft can be pretty tricky stuff as well. At first thought, it seems as straightforward as someone taking something that's not theirs, but life has a way of coming up with complicated situations that can make even a theft not seem so black and white. In May, a man living in Yoichi, Hokkaido Prefecture came home to find that his car had disappeared. Luckily, he had a security camera set up that caught the entire incident. During the day, a man and a woman drove up to his home in a small truck crane, often known as a 'unic' in Japan. They rang the doorbell and spoke to the man's father, who is in his 90s and reportedly suffering from dementia. They told the father, 'We're here to pick up the car,' and handed him 10,000 yen (US$69). The father accepted the money and the pair got to work hoisting the car onto their truck. About 30 minutes later they had secured the car and drove away with it. A news report showing some of the security camera footage When the man saw this he was shocked and appalled that people would take advantage of his father like that and reported the theft of his car to the police. However, upon telling them what happened, the police responded that they couldn't accept his story as a theft report based on the evidence at hand. Since the father had accepted money in exchange for the car, it could be seen as a legal transaction rather than theft. Anyone hearing this story would probably agree that even if it isn't technically theft, it certainly isn't lawful and there should be something the police could have done. Online comments about the story concur. 'But if the father isn't the owner of the car, that can't be a legal sale.' 'Those two must have done their research to know about the old man's condition.' 'The police should at least investigate where the car was taken so they can figure this out.' 'Something's wrong with the law.' 'So, it's legal to buy whatever you want for however much you want from someone with dementia?' 'If he has dementia, the sale is invalidated. The police should do their job.' 'I guess it's more like fraud, so isn't that enough for the police to do something?' Unfortunately, if this was to be considered either theft or fraud, some form of intent would have to be established. Looking at the facts alone, it could be equally possible that the two people were offered a junker for 10,000 yen by someone else but they just made a mistake and picked up the wrong car. The father's condition put him in no position to correct their mistake and off they went. If that is the case, then they would likely give the car back right away and apologize if asked by the owner. Taking a situation like this to a more clear-cut extreme, it'd be like if you were a police officer and someone told you, 'My brother stole my car,' your first instinct would probably be to at least ask if they tried to get it back before jumping right to arresting the brother for theft. So, it would seem the police's position is that the man first attempt to get the car back before this could be considered a theft. On the other hand, it certainly doesn't seem fair that he should be tasked with playing detective in tracking down who these mysterious truck operators are. The police really ought to at least look into it a little bit as the potential that a crime had been committed exists. That being said, maybe it is for the best that safeguards like this are in place to prevent the police from having carte blanche to investigate anyone they want on gut instincts alone, even if all of our guts are telling us something's not right with this case. Source: TV Asahi News, HTB News via Goo News, Hachima Kiko Featured image: Pakutaso ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Nikkei Asia
11 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Video of Indian being handcuffed at US airport sparks social media debate
NEW DELHI -- A video of an Indian man being handcuffed and pinned to the floor by law enforcement authorities at a U.S. airport has triggered a debate in social media over President Donald Trump's stringent immigration rules. The footage -- along with several more videos and pictures of the incident -- was shared on X earlier this week by Kunal Jain, who describes himself as an Indo-American social entrepreneur. "I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night - handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI [non-resident Indian], I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy," Jain wrote.
Nikkei Asia
a day ago
- Nikkei Asia
Chinese fighter flies within 45m of Japan patrol plane over Pacific, Tokyo says
TOKYO -- Chinese fighter jets flew abnormally close to a Japanese patrol plane monitoring a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean twice within the past few days, Japan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday. A Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C plane was followed by a Chinese J-15 from the aircraft carrier Shandong for around 40 minutes on Saturday and 80 minutes on Sunday, according to the ministry. The jet, believed to have been armed with missiles, flew within 45 meters of the patrol plane at the same altitude, a short enough distance to risk a collision.
