11 more held in Peru murder case

LIMA, Dec 28: Officials detained another 11 soldiers in connection with the murder of two Japanese students, feared hacked to death during a...

LIMA, Dec 28: Officials detained another 11 soldiers in connection with the murder of two Japanese students, feared hacked to death during an Amazon river expedition, a police source said.

The detentions brought to 14 the number of servicemen held in connection with the brutal murders of Chiaki Ito, 22, and Takahiro Miyashita, 23, both students at Japan’s Waseda University.

The police source said officials on Saturday had apparently found part of the students’ remains hidden in the brush near the El Pijuayal military base.The soldiers were members of a military unit that controls river boat traffic from Peru to Colombia and Brazil, officials said.

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Police in the Amazon gateway city of Iquitos, some 880 kms north-east of here, said two women had also been detained in connection with the investigation.

According to authorities, the area where the two disappeared is frequented by gangs who attack tourists.

Several cases have been reported in which tourists were killed and thrown into the river, their bodies cut up to prevent them from floating to the surface.