Japanese authorities officially moved Friday to disband Aum Shinri Kyo, the doomsday cult implicated in the deadly nerve gassings on Tokyo subways.
Tokyo officials filed petitions with the Tokyo District Court seeking an order to disband the group, saying it posed a threat to public welfare.Cult founder Shoko Asahara and about two dozen of his top lieutenants have been charged with murder in the March 20 attacks, which left 12 people dead and thousands of others sickened.
The attacks and a series of crimes that followed, including the near-fatal shooting of the nation's top police official, have ruptured this country's long-treasured notions of public security.
If the court grants the petitions, the group will be forced to hand over all its assets to the government. Aum owns millions of dollars' worth of land in Japan, including a large compound near Mount Fuji.