| Japanese agents raided key facilities of a doomsday cult Monday, searching for evidence of a terror plot before a verdict in the trial of the group’s guru for a 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subways. About 200 investigators poured into the Tokyo headquarters and 10 other centers of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in the latest raid on the group, which now calls itself Aleph. Investigators did not immediately detain any suspects Monday. The raids come ahead of the Feb. 27 verdict in the murder trial of Shoko Asahara, who is accused of masterminding the Tokyo attack that killed 12 people and sickened thousands, and a series of other murders. He faces the death penalty if convicted. The group has shown signs of greater devotion to Asahara in recent months, raising concerns it could mount a terror attack around the time of his ruling, a Public Security Intelligence Agency official said on condition of anonymity. Agents also want to pin down the whereabouts of group leaders, the official said. Despite a police crackdown after the March 1995 gas attack, the cult has regrouped in recent years and now has 1,650 members in Japan and 300 in Russia. The group remains under surveillance by the intelligence agency. So far, 11 of Asahara’s followers have been sentenced to death in connection with several cult attacks. None has yet been executed. |