Tokyo and New Delhi: Former prime minister of Japan Sinzo Abe, aged 67, died after being shot with a home-made in the back during an election campaign speech on Friday, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. The world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed shock at the assassination in a country where gun crime is rate. Prime Minister and one of Abe’s proteges, Fumio Kishida, said, “I cannot find words to describe how I feel.”
A doctor attending on Abe in Nara Medical University Hospital said that the leader died at 08:03 GMT, BBC reported. “During four and a half hour treatment, medics tried to stop the bleeding and carried out a blood transfusion, using more than 100 units of blood,” the doctor said.
Abe sustained two wounds, believed to be bullet injuries, but medics could not find bullets during surgery, the doctor added. According to state broadcaster NHK, the attack took place at around 11.30 am (local time) near the Yamatosaidaiji Station in Nara city where Abe was delivering a speech during a Liberal Democratic Party candidate’s election campaign. The suspect, identified as 41-year-old Yamagami Tetsuya, a resident of Nara city, has been arrested. According to the police, the accused told investigators that he was dissatisfied with the former Prime Minister and intended to kill him.
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Investigative sources told NHK a gun seized at the scene appeared to be handmade. Japan is slated to hold a parliamentary election this Sunday. Sources added that the suspect worked for the Maritime Self Defense Force for three years until around 2005. Abe became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister after serving from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons.
Day-long national mourning in India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a day-long national mourning for Shinzo Abe. In the same way, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed shock over the attack on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
“Shocked to hear the news of the attack on former PM of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who has been instrumental in deepening Indo-Japanese ties. Prayers for his recovery. My thoughts are with his family,” he tweeted.
