South Korea's police arrested three followers in a church retreat raid Wednesday on suspicion of helping the fugitive owner of a sunken ferry evade a massive manhunt, Yonhap News Agency reported.
About 4,000 police officers, armed with court-issued warrants, forced their way into the sprawling religious compound belonging to the Evangelical Baptist Church in Anseong, 77 km south of Seoul.
After searching through the premises for nearly one hour, police said they have detained the three church followers, including a suspect on charges of assisting Yoo Byung-eun, who is believed to own Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ferry that sank off the southwest coast on April 16.
The 74-year-old Yoo, who is wanted for a string of corruption charges and irregularities, remains an influential founding member of the religious cult.
Investigators suspect that corruption by Yoo, whose two sons own stakes in the ferry operator through various subsidiaries, resulted in lax safety practices, such as cargo overloading, and created conditions that ultimately led to the tragedy that left more than 300 people dead or missing.
The huge operation came a day after President Park Geun-Hye urged police and prosecutors to capture Yoo, saying that he "must be brought to justice." As part of efforts to locate the whereabouts of Yoo and his eldest son, prosecutors have raised the rewards for information leading to the arrests of Yoo and the son to KRW 500 million (USD 492,000) and KRW 100 million, respectively.