Indus Valley Times

Japan, July 8: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot at while campaigning in Nara, western Japan on Friday, public broadcaster NHK reported. The suspect has been arrested.

Japan Times reported that Abe was attacked from behind around 11:30 am and struck by a bullet in the chest, while delivering an election campaign speech on a street in Nara. He has been taken to hospital bleeding after collapsing. He is reportedly showing no vital signs, reported NHK.

WATCH: Bystanders rush to help former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he is shotpic.twitter.com/vgk7fn323p

— BNO News (@BNONews) July 8, 2022

According to NHK reports, a sound like a gunshot was heard at the time Abe collapsed. A male person of interest was detained at the scene. An NHK reporter on the scene said they could hear two consecutive bangs during Abe’s speech.

Abe first served as prime minister of Japan beginning in 2006, but stepped down after a year in office following a string of controversies.

After he became prime minister again in 2012, he employed economic policies dubbed “Abenomics”, pumping billions of dollars into Japan’s economic growth.

In October 2017, he won the parliamentary election and his fourth four-year term as Japan’s highest elected official. Over the next two years, his administration was rocked by scandals — allegations of favours for friends — and his popularity plummeted as critics called for him to resign.

After serving nearly eight years in office, health ailments like a relapse of bowel disease led Abe to step down in August 2020.

-PTI