Egyptian police have killed four members of a gang specialised in "kidnapping foreigners" and allegedly involved in murdering an Italian student in New Cairo area here, Interior Ministry has said.
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old PhD student, was found dead on the outskirts of Cairo, ten days after he went missing on January 25 on the fifth anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising.
Regeni death sparked international outcry with Italian government putting pressure on Egypt to find those responsible for his death
"The security forces managed to track down a gang in New Cairo that used to pose as policemen. It specialised in abducting foreigners and robbing them," the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
According to the ministry statement, police found a bag belonging to Regeni during a raid on a flat of one of the suspect's sisters, who confessed to her brother's crimes, in Qalyubia.
"There was an exchange of fire with the police and all members of the gang were killed." it said.
"A red handbag was found, including a brown wallet, the passport of Regeni, his Cambridge University ID card, and a visa card," the statement said.
In addition to the bag, other things such as a wallet with a sum of Egyptian pound 5,000, three sunglasses and a female wrist watch was also found, it added.
The Italian side was informed about this update, said the statement, which was released on the Ministry's Facebook page with photos of Regeni's cards.
Regeni's body was found beside a road on the western outskirts of Cairo. His body showed signs of torture, prompting prosecutors to say he had suffered a "slow, painful death".
Regeni, a PhD student at the department of politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge, was a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo.
Rights groups and opposition figures speculated that he was killed by members of the Egyptian security forces - claims Cairo had strongly denied.
