Shinichiro Nakajima Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
SAO PAULO--Two Japanese and two Paraguayans were kidnapped Sunday in southeastern Paraguay by a group of armed men who later demanded 150,000 dollars (18 million yen) in ransom, the Paraguayan national police said Monday.
The two Japanese are Hirokazu Ota, 62, president of a Paraguay-based land management company called Victoria, and his female secretary, Sawako Yamaguchi, 37.
The group, which was armed with automatic weapons, allegedly stopped their vehicle by pretending to conduct a military inspection on Sunday afternoon in Caaguazu, more than 100 kilometers east of the capital, Asuncion, according to the police.
The other two abductees are a Paraguayan police officer and his girlfriend, who happened to be passing the scene in a separate vehicle.
The officer managed to contact the police before being taken away with his girlfriend by the gunmen. They are still missing.
Ota and Yamaguchi, who both live in Paraguay, reportedly were on their way back to Asuncion after checking land in the Caaguazu region. They also attended a meeting held near the region, according to witnesses.
The suspects got out of the van in a suburb of Asuncion--where a road inspection was being held--and fled the scene. Police believe the van was used in a previous kidnapping.
Ota's company, Victoria, is reportedly affiliated with the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, better known as the Unification Church. The company in Asuncion manages the association's properties in Paraguay.
According to locals, a series of kidnappings targeting entrepreneurs have recently been reported in the area.
In Paraguay, a rancher from Saitama was gunned down in 2005, while a Japanese engineer was killed by car thieves in 1996.
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Christian group investigating
The Yomiuri Shimbun
In response to the kidnapping in Paraguay, the Holy Spirit Association for the U nification of World Christianity's Japan headquarters in Tokyo is contacting i ts members in the South American country about the two Japanese abductees, who b oth belong to the association. According to the public relations section of the association, which is based inS hibuya Ward, Tokyo, Hirokazu Ota used to be a senior official of an a ssociation-related entity and is now operating the company in Asuncion. Sawako Y amaguchi is currently working for Ota's company. "We should leave the case to local police. We heard that the suspects asked fora
ransom," a spokesman said. "We'd like to refrain from commenting on the matteru ntil they're released."
(Apr. 11, 2007)