A woman wanted for 17 years for allegedly helping to produce the deadly nerve gas used in a 1995 attack on Tokyo subways said she feels relief at her arrest because she doesn't have to hide her identity anymore, police said Monday.

Naoko Kikuchi is a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that released the nerve gas sarin in Tokyo's subways in 1995, killing 13 people and injuring more than 6,000. The cult had amassed an arsenal of chemical, biological and conventional weapons in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown with the government.

Police on Sunday arrested Kikuchi, 40, after she was spotted in Sagamihara city, 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Tokyo, where she had been living since 2010. She admitted who she was when officers approached her.

She was one of two remaining cult members wanted as murder suspects in the case.

Kikuchi has admitted to helping in the sarin production, but told investigators that she didn't know at that time what the substance was, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.