DISMANTLING OF AUM

    By 1995 Aum Supreme Truth in Japan had 24 facilities. It boasted 10,000 members in Japan and yet another 30,000 members in Russia. It had small chapters in Sri Lanka and the USA. It had once owned property in the Western Australia outback.

    Due to the contraversial nature of Aum it was plagued by critics. When the anti-Aum activist lawyer, Tsusumi Sakamoto, disappeared with his family in 1989 Aum Supreme Truth began to attract criticism. Yet, as a legal corporation it had existed for only two years. Sakamoto's disappearance, along with other mysterious happenings drew the police and Aum on a collision course. The editor of one of the major newspapers once wrote, "However, the investigation must not end with solving crimes that have been brought to light .... Police must show the background of why intelligent youths joined such a fanatical organization." Thus this book is an honest attempt to explain the above phenomena of why did it happen. To resolve what really happened we must review the raids, what was happening at the time, and the evidence that has been brought out by those raids.

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