CAIRO - As some human rights activists called on the dismissal of the Interior Minister, police Saturday launched an investigation into the death of bus driver, allegedly beaten following a fight with a police officer, inciting his relatives to set fire to a police station in central Cairo. Five tanks with dozens of military policemen wearing red caps cordoned off Ezbekiya Police Station in downtown Cairo, where the wreck of a burnt-out vehicle was still to be seen, as a result of the Friday night attack by relatives of bus driver Mohamed Sabah Saeed Nasr. "A new investigation has been started by the Interior Ministry into the death of Nasr," a security official said. Nasr, a 39-year-old from the Delta Governorate of el-Menoufiya, clashed with a police officer on Thursday outside the station and was taken inside with 13 other minibus drivers for parking violations. He was then admitted to a nearby hospital, where he died. It is not clear what caused his death. Nasr's family have accused the police of beating their son to death, filing reports against the chief of security in Ezbekiya Police Station. "The police chief in the station killed my son. Unless the police avenge his death, we will block the Cairo-Alexandria Road," said Nasr's father, whose village overlooks the road. A crowd of about 200, primarily family members and other drivers, who have a history of clashing with police officers for holding invalid licences, then broke into the station and set it ablaze. The fire was later put out. Witnesses said crowds also set a police car on fire. Security sources denied any foul play and said Nasr seemed to have collapsed because of low blood pressure. Meanwhile, April 6th Youth Movement called on the Interior Ministry to apologise for remarks by chief of Cairo Police, who said members of the group had a role in torching the station. "These are irresponsible remarks. No members of the group were in Al Tahrir or near Ezbekiya on Friday. We didn't make any calls for protest on that day. We ask for an official apology," Mohamed Adel, a spokesman for the group, told The Egyptian Gazette. Meanwhile, some rights activists have started an online campaign to force Minister of Interior Mansour el-Essawi to quit, saying he has failed to end the torture in police stations. "A man beaten to death in Boulaq last week and another in Ezbekiya this week. El-Essawi should admit his failure and resign," read one post on the social networking website Facebook. Widespread police abuse was one of the driving forces behind the mass protests that erupted in January and forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
