Police arrested a man for allegedly slashing a policeman with a knife Thursday in the same Tokyo neighborhood where a stabbing spree left seven people dead and 10 wounded earlier this month, a police spokesman said.
Police found a knife in the man's bag after stopping him for questioning in Akihabara, a popular electronics and video game neighborhood, a police official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Police seized the knife, but the man snatched it back and attempted to flee. As police detained the man, he managed to slash an officer on the hand, the official said.
He declined to say why the man was stopped for questioning, saying only that the patrolling officer had "an intuition." He said the man was in his 20s.
He said the officer was "slightly" injured, but gave no further details on the incident.
In the wake of the worst murder rampage in Tokyo in recent memory, police have deployed more patrol officers to boost security in crowded public places, such as train stations shopping districts.
Tomohiro Kato, a 25-year-old auto factory worker, is accused of slamming a rented truck into a crowd of pedestrians on June 8 in Akihabara, jumping out and then going on a stabbing spree that left seven people dead.
Japan has been on alert for copycat crimes ever since.
Police have arrested several people for allegedly using the Internet to make specific threats of violence. Kato allegedly posted hundreds of threatening messages on Web sites before the incident, with the last one sent just 20 minutes before the violence started.
