Former employee arrested for poisoning Saitama aquarium fish

A former employee of an aquarium in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, has been arrested for killing hundreds of fish and damaging property at the aquarium in April.

According to police, Masataka Yagisawa, 24, was arrested and charged with causing damage to private property and killing fish housed at the aquarium, TBS reported Tuesday. Police said that in April, Yagisawa mixed insect repellant chemicals into the water, killing 441 fish including carp. As a result, the aquarium was forced to close during the busy Golden Week period for repairs and clean-up.

In their investigation, police said they traced where the particular type of chemicals had come from, which eventually led them to Yagisawa.

Yagisawa had left his position at the aquarium in February after a dispute with his employer, police said. Yagisawa has denied all involvement in the case.

Police are also questioning Yagisawa about an earlier mass poisoning of fish at the aquarium in which over 500 fish were killed. That took place in February, just after Yagisawa left his job.

© Japan Today