The police have served a new arrest warrant on Kanayama Masahide, a New York-based Japanese doctor who was extradited to Japan earlier in March.

The warrant involves suspicions that Kanayama splashed oil-like liquid on the pillars of the main gate at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in Chiba Prefecture in 2015.

Kanayama, the founder of a Christian-based religious group, has admitted to the allegation and told the police that the liquid is anointing oil he purchased online.

As for his motive in a similar case in which he cast oil at a shrine in Chiba Prefecture, the suspect said he was guided by the Holy Spirit during prayer.

The police are also investigating his possible involvement in a series of similar incidents at temples and shrines in western Japan.