Tokyo, Nov 23 (IANS): Police in Japan Friday morning stormed a bank in the country's central Aichi prefecture and rescued all four hostages held by a knife-wielding man, Xinhua quoted a local media report.
Police arrested Koji Nagakubo, 32, for taking five people captive, including one who was released earlier in exchange for food.
All the four rescued hostages were safe, reported Kyodo news agency, though one of them, a 19-year-old female bank employee, was slightly injured.
The hostage standoff began Thursday afternoon when the suspect held hostage a bank customer, who was using an automatic teller machine, reports said.
According to Aichi police, Nagakubo took the hostages to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government.