Photo/Illutration Charred tree branches are left at the site where the bodies of a man and a woman were found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, on April 16. The riverbed is about 5 meters from a forest road. (Satomi Ono)

A 25-year-old man in the construction industry was arrested in connection with two bodies that were found burned on a riverbed in a mountainous area of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture.

Ryoken Hirayama, who lives in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, is suspected of destruction of corpses and was sent to prosecutors on April 22.

Police believe other people were involved.

The charred bodies of Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, a company executive from Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, and a woman were discovered at around 6:50 a.m. on April 16, after a person nearby noticed smoke rising in the mountains.

Police believe the woman is Takarajima’s wife and are using DNA and other information to confirm the identity, the sources said.

According to police, Hirayama is believed to have set fire to the bodies.

At around 4 a.m. on April 16, about three hours before the bodies were found, a black sedan-type passenger car was seen in the area.

Police identified and seized the car, which was registered in Hirayama’s name.

“I was given instructions. I lent a car,” Hirayama said, according to the sources.

He was arrested by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department and Tochigi prefectural police on April 21.

An investigative headquarters for the crime has been set up at the MPD’s Osaki Police Station.

Hirayama turned himself in at a police box in front of JR Gotanda Station in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward at around 6:30 a.m. on April 17.

Tochigi police had questioned him on a voluntarily basis.

Takarajima and his wife were walking with a young man, who was not Hirayama, around 9 p.m. on April 15 in Tokyo’s Ueno district, the sources said, referring to security camera footage.

The three were later seen traveling in a one-box car, which was not Hirayama’s vehicle.

Between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. the same day, a security camera captured Takarajima and his wife along with multiple people in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward.

Police believe that they later switched to Hirayama’s car.

Investigators have said the victims were likely killed before their bodies were set on fire.

Their heads had been covered with bags and adhesive tape, and the cause of their deaths was asphyxiation due to neck compression, the sources said. The woman’s head had trauma and broken bones.

Takarajima operated multiple eateries, including a “yakiniku” grilled meat restaurant and an “izakaya” tavern, in Tokyo’s Ueno district.

An employee at one of his restaurants said workers referred to Takarajima as “Papa,” and that he often used a bicycle to make his rounds of his eateries.

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