Denmark police in massive manhunt

Danish police briefly shut bridges and ferry links to Sweden and Germany yesterday as they widened their hunt for three people and a black Volvo in connection with a serious crime – a kidnapping according to Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper – to include the whole country.Denmark’s armed forces said they took part in the operation, without giving details.Danish police said they were still looking for a Swedish-registered rental car, and Swedish police said the car was rented at Malmö airport in August but hadn’t been returned.“The vehicle probably contains three persons linked to a serious crime,” Danish police said in a statement. “Copenhagen Police are searching for a black Swedish-registered Volvo V90 with registration number ZBP 546.”If the black Volvo V90 is sighted, Copenhagen police advised the general public to call the police but not to approach the car or individuals in the vehicle.The emergency number was subsequently flooded by calls, and police issued a different number for reports of possible sightings.Aftonbladet, quoting unnamed sources, said the operation was linked to a kidnapping in Denmark.Police would not confirm the report.The police operation was centred on Zealand, the island where the Danish capital of Copenhagen is located, public broadcaster DR reported.Vehicles were temporarily prevented from using the 18km-long Storebaelt Bridge at Denmark’s Great Belt, a strait between the large islands of Zealand and Funen.Police set up cordons on some main highways in the vicinity of Copenhagen as well as other parts of the country as part of the search.Traffic from Denmark to Sweden over the Oresund bridge was also briefly stopped.The bridge closures caused long queues.Police and road authorities said motorists were to expect delays.Ferry services between Helsingor, north of Copenhagen, and the Swedish port of Helsingborg were briefly halted as were ferries between the Danish port of Roedby and Puttgarden in northern Germany and Gedser in Denmark and Rostock in Germany.Some train services were also affected.“I spent 41 years in the Danish police, I have never seen such a big action taken before,” Hans Jorgen Bonnichsen, the former head of operations at the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), told local media.