Untold story of how a deadly Japanese doomsday cult bought 400,000 hectares in the Australian Outback to test a Nazi nerve agent on sheep - before they poisoned 5,500 commuters in Tokyo's subwayUntold story of how a deadly Japanese doomsday cult bought 400,000 hectares in the Australian Outback to test a Nazi nerve agent on sheep - before they poisoned 5,500 commuters in Tokyo's subway - 3

WHAT IS SARIN GAS? 

Sarin is a colourless, odorless liquid used as a chemical weapon due to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. Exposure is lethal even at very low concentrations and death can occur within one to ten minutes after direct inhalation. It causes suffocation from lung muscle paralysis unless antidotes are quickly administered.a group of people that are standing in the grass:

Members of the Australian Federal Police and Western Australian Police are pictured around a campfire at Banjawarn Station as they searched the property in 1995© Provided by Daily Mail Members of the Australian Federal Police and Western Australian Police are pictured around a campfire at Banjawarn Station as they searched the property in 1995.Sarin is discovered in 1938 and developed in Nazi Germany. Its production is internationally outlawed. 

'We had a pretty good handle on the membership of the group  and we worked closely with the Department of Immigration and Customs,' Leading Senior Constable Creighton said. 'The special police liaison officer in Tokyo made sure that their further applications for visas would be "politely refused". 'The fact that two of the group had been convicted of a really, really dangerous offence of carrying these dangerous goods on aircraft helped - in addition to all the other intelligence that we and other agencies collected.

'While authorities rejected further visa applications of known sect members, in November two adherents were granted travel documents from the Australian consulate in Osaka and went to Banjawarn where they stayed for six months. In June the sect staged a sarin attack on the Japanese city Matsumoto, releasing gas it had tested at Banajwarn from a refrigeration truck, killing eight people and injuring more than 500. In August it sold Banjawarn Station at a loss of $200,000 and in October the last of the group flew out of Perth and returned to Japan. 

The little-known sect gained international attention when on March 20, 1995 it released sarin in five Tokyo train stations on what was then the busiest subway system in the world. The new owners of Banjawarn contacted local police several days after the attacks when news broke of Aum Supreme Truth's involvement. a man wearing a helmet: Soldiers are pictured cleaning out Kasumigaseki subway station in Tokyo after the Aum Supreme Truth attack in March 1995.

The rush-hour poisoning killed 12 commuters© Provided by Daily Mail Soldiers are pictured cleaning out Kasumigaseki subway station in Tokyo after the Aum Supreme Truth attack in March 1995. The rush-hour poisoning killed 12 commuters.'When the new station owners moved in they saw a particular site where a lot of sheep had perished,' Leading Senior Constable Creighton told Platypus.

'They thought, "Well, that's a bit unusual" because the sheep hadn't been shorn - it looked like they'd been bludgeoned to death rather than shot.' The new owners had also found laboratory equipment and containers of chemicals in the homestead. An AFP team flew to  Perth and joined local Western Australian police, then along with a government chemist drove from Kalgoorlie to Banjawarn in troop carriers laden with camping equipment. Rescue workers are pictured carrying survivors of the Tokyo subway attacks to emergency tents on March 20, 1995.

The five attacks were timed to take place simultaneously© Provided by Daily Mail Rescue workers are pictured carrying survivors of the Tokyo subway attacks to emergency tents on March 20, 1995. The five attacks were timed to take place simultaneouslyInvestigators carried out extensive searches and testing at the site, uncovering evidence of sarin experiments that had been conducted on sheep at the property.

Forensic Officer Steve Olinder took samples from the dead animals back to Kalgoorlie where he spent a night in a motel with sheep skulls around him. There was also evidence the sect had plans to build nuclear weapons and had dug up uranium with an excavator. 'The teams took samples, they took statements and they brought the samples back,' Leading Senior Constable Creighton said.

'The government chemist ran the checks... and they came back positive for sarin.'My understanding is that the chemist fell off his chair - like he'd done something wrong. But he checked it again and come back with exactly the same result.'The samples were sent to a scientist in London who had previously found that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein killed thousands of Kurds in 1988 using mustard gas and nerve agents.

Information obtained by the AFP was also exchanged with the FBI and the NYPD Joint Terrorist Taskforce, which were investigating a New York chapter of Aum Supreme Truth.a person wearing a costume: Tokyo Fire Department officers are pictured leaving Kasumigaseki station on March 20, 1995 in Tokyo after decontaminating the subway© Provided by Daily Mail Tokyo Fire Department officers are pictured leaving Kasumigaseki station on March 20, 1995 in Tokyo after decontaminating the subwayLeading Senior Constable Creighton said the Tokyo sarin attacks and events at Banjawarn marked a new era of crime fighting for the AFP and sparked one of its first investigations into international terrorism.

'It was the basis of the counter terrorism legislation we take for granted today,' he told Platypus. 'It's one of the more significant investigations that I have ever taken part in. 

DID AUM SUPREME TRUTH TEST A NUCLEAR BOMB AT BANJAWARN? 

a close up of a door: The laboratory door taken by police from Banjawarn Station is at the AFP Museum© Provided by Daily Mail The laboratory door taken by police from Banjawarn Station is at the AFP MuseumOn the night of 28 May 1993 a seismic disturbance was detected south of Banjawarn Station.

It was a month after the property had been bought by the Aum Supreme Truth cult. The event sent shock waves through hundreds of kilometres of desert but was witnessed only by a few long-distance truck drivers and gold prospectors.They reported seeing a fireball in the sky and hearing a protracted low-frequency sound. No large asteroid impact was found and a mining explosion was discounted.

The Urban Geoscience Division of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation determined the event 'showed similar characteristics consistent with typical seismic activity for Western Australia,' and was most likely an earthquake.

Following the revelation that Banjawarn had been owned by the sect there was speculation the disturbance might have been the result of a test explosion of a nuclear device. An Australian Federal Police investigation found no evidence to support the suggestion and cult members were not believed to in Australia at the time of the event.a car driving down a dirt road:

The graziers who bought Banjawarn Station alerted police to suspicious finds they had made when they learnt of the Tokyo attacks. Troop carriers are pictured taking police and supplies to the property© Provided by Daily Mail The graziers who bought Banjawarn Station alerted police to suspicious finds they had made when they learnt of the Tokyo attacks.

Troop carriers are pictured taking police and supplies to the property'Certainly, from a world-wide perspective, probably the highest one. It's been 27 years since this and we're still talking about it. 'Not only were we speaking with the Japanese authorities, we were speaking with the FBI and preparing our submissions which eventually went to the US Senate as part of their Permanent Committee on Investigations.'When the AFP investigations team came to their conclusions they didn't have any of the legislative tools that we take for granted now. 

'There was no counter terrorism legislation. The [sect's] idea was that their actions would kick off a nuclear war between the Americans and the Russians - and that Australia would be a safe haven after this.'a canyon with a mountain in the background:

Banjawarn Station is 4,047 square kilometres of mulga and saltbush 14 hours' drive from Perth© Provided by Daily Mail Banjawarn Station is 4,047 square kilometres of mulga and saltbush 14 hours' drive from PerthPolice work done before the Tokyo attack had stopped Aum Supreme Truth from establishing anything more than a small, short-lived base in Australia. 

'At the time the Aum sect were prevented from establishing a foothold in Australia by some very determined and proactive work by Federal and Western Australian agencies,' Leading Senior Constable Creighton said.

'The AFP, Australian Customs and Department of Immigration worked together to prevent senior Aum members from returning.'Asahara was executed with Kiyohide Hayakawa and Yoshihiro Inoue, the pair who had scouted Banjawarn, as well as Seiichi Endo, the so-called head scientist, and nine other sect members in July 2018.

Aum Shinrikyo was classified as a terrorist organisation and still exists under the name Aleph.Shoko Asahara sitting on a bed: Shinrikyo Aum was founded by Shoko Asahara (pictured) in Tokyo 1984 as a belief system drawing upon elements of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, Christianity, yoga, and the writings of Nostradamus©

Provided by Daily Mail Shinrikyo Aum was founded by Shoko Asahara (pictured) in Tokyo 1984 as a belief system drawing upon elements of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, Christianity, yoga, and the writings of NostradamusCattle have replaced sheep at their one-time Australian base and there is little trace left of the cult at Banjawarn Station. 

A brick barbecue built by police who searched the property remains on the site and writing on the wall of a machinery shed provides instructions in Japanese on how to start up the generator. 

Reference: 23/05/2020: Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia 5 hrs ago