Police have arrested another two people in connection with the burned bodies of a married couple that were found in Tochigi Prefecture in April, including the man suspected of ordering the crime, investigative sources said Tuesday, bringing the total number of suspects to six.
Seiha Sekine, 32, arrested Monday, is the common-law husband of a woman whose parents' burned bodies were found on a riverbank in Nasu, eastern Japan, on April 16, the sources said. The police believe Sekine ordered the killings.
On Tuesday, the police also arrested Ryo Maeda, a 36-year-old corporate executive, in connection with the case, the sources said. He was an acquaintance of the victims -- restaurant operator Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife Sachiko, 56.
Both Sekine and Maeda were arrested on suspicion of damaging the bodies.
The four other suspects did not know the couple, according to the sources.
One of the four, Hikaru Sasaki, 28, was quoted as telling police that another person had asked him in early April to "process" the couple, according to the sources.
Sekine is suspected of burning the bodies with the help of the four in the early hours of April 16, the sources said, adding the police had searched his home.