The Interior Ministry disclosed details on Sunday of a recent recent kidnap attempt on a female student with German nationality, in which the would-be kidnappers included an Egyptian police sergeant. In a statement, the ministry said investigations had revealed that the attempted kidnapping was masterminded by an Egyptian businessman trading in artifacts, who had business connections with the student's fiance, an artifacts dealer from Minya. The student is said to have made a statement during investigations that she had been surprised outside her house by six persons getting out of a microbus and assaulting her. One of them was holding a police dog, which was allowed to attack the girl, resulting in the injury of her foot. The attackers attempted to drag the girl into the vehicle, she said, but were unable to do so and drove away as passersby gathered at the scene. The girl, who studies at Ain Shams University, lives with her mother in Omraneya but holds a German passport. After she reported the attack to the police, an investigations team was able to identify the microbus driver. Once arrested, he admitted to meeting an unknown businessman and the police sergeant at the latter's house, who asked him to provide a vehicle and five men to help make an arrest. The driver added that the sergeant told him that the mission involved arresting a suspect wanted for a court case. So far, in addition to the driver, police have managed to arrest the police sergeant and two of the men involved in the attack. The businessman alleged to have masterminded the kidnap attempt, however, remains free. The reasons behind the plot remain unclear, although investigations suggest that a ransom of around LE200,000 may have been involved.
