{Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the detention of four people in relation to the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, officials say.}
They are relatives of an alleged criminal gang which officials say was behind the killing. All the gang’s members died in a shoot-out.
But Italian officials have questioned this claim amid suspicion that security forces had involvement in the case.
Mr Regeni’s body was found with signs of torture, dumped beside a road.
Italian authorities have long complained about a lack of transparency from Cairo in the investigation.
The 28-year-old Italian, who was a student at Cambridge, had been researching trade unions, a politically sensitive subject in Egypt. His body was found on 3 February, a week after his disappearance in Cairo.
{{The murder of Giulio Regeni}}
Two of the suspects detained are the wife and sister of the alleged gang leader. They had been arrested in the sister’s apartment, where an official said police found a bag with Mr Regeni’s passport and wallet.
The other two are the brother-in-law and brother of the head of the gang.
All four are accused of concealing a criminal and hiding stolen goods, officials said.
On Thursday, Egypt’s interior ministry said police had found a bag belonging to the student during a raid on a flat linked to the gang. All its four members were said to had been killed in a shoot-out.
The group specialised in abducting foreigners while posing as policemen, it added.
{{‘Outrageous set-up’}}
But the claim has been criticised by Italian officials and the Regeni family, who rejected it as an “outrageous set-up”.
Human rights groups and opposition figures have speculated that Mr Regeni was killed by members of the Egyptian security forces, claims Egyptian officials have strongly denied.
“[We are] wounded and embittered by the umpteenth attempt at a cover-up on the part of the Egyptian authorities,” the family told Italian news agency Ansa.
“[We are] certain of the firmness with which our government will react to this outrageous set-up”.
On Twitter, Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said: “Italy insists: we want the truth.”
Rome’s chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone said on Friday that the investigation into the murder would continue.
Mr Regeni was a PhD student at the department of politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge, and a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo (AUC)
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