Investigative sources say police have placed under custody a man believed to be a member of an extremist group that orchestrated a series of bombings of companies in Tokyo in the mid-1970s.

The sources say police learned that a man thought to be fugitive Kirishima Satoshi was hospitalized in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, and placed him under custody on Thursday.

Kirishima is a member of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front. The group is held responsible for 12 bombing attacks in 1974 and 1975, targeting companies doing business abroad.

Its bombing of the headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the Marunouchi business district in 1974 left eight people dead and 165 injured.

Kirishima is suspected of being involved in a bomb attack at a building in Ginza, Tokyo in 1975.

He was placed on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of violating the Criminal Regulations to Control Explosives.

Sources say the man believed to be Kirishima is hospitalized under a false name, and that he is receiving treatment for terminal-stage cancer. They say the man is admitting that he is the wanted Kirishima, who would be 70 years old.

Police are questioning the man. They are also expected to conduct a DNA test to confirm his identity.