Telecom Industry Asked to Notify Police of Crime Warnings

Tokyo, June 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s National Police Agency on Monday asked four telecommunications industry bodies to notify police if they find messages warning of crimes on Internet bulletin boards, in the wake of a knifing spree in central Tokyo’s Akihabara district Sunday.

The four groups include the Telecommunications Carriers Association and the Japan Internet Providers Association.

In Sunday’s rampage in Akihabara, a major destination for electronics shoppers, a 25-year-old man drove a 2-ton truck into a crowd and then went on a stabbing spree, killing seven people and injuring 10 others.

The man, who was arrested after the rampage, admitted during police questioning that he wrote a message on an Internet bulletin board from a mobile phone that said, “I will kill people in Akihabara.”

In the message, the man also said, “I will use a motor vehicle and then a knife after the vehicle becomes useless.”

Many messages warning of crimes, such as the mass murder of school students and bombings, are found on the Internet.

The police hope to prevent crimes by cooperating with the telecommunications industry organizations.END

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