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CAIRO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - An Italian student who went missing in Cairo has died and an investigation has been launched into signs of torture on his body, which was found dumped next to a road, security officials said on Thursday.

Giulio Regeni, 28, disappeared on Jan. 25, the five-year anniversary of the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. His body has been taken to a Cairo morgue, a morgue worker and security officials said.

In the run-up to the anniversary, police detained activists and warned people not to demonstrate. No significant protests took place.

A friend of Regeni said he disappeared after leaving his home in an upper middle class district to meet a friend downtown.

Last year, Islamic State militants kidnapped a Croatian man from the outskirts of Cairo and later beheaded him, but such incidents are rare and there was a heavy police presence in downtown Cairo when Regeni went missing.



(Reporting by Amina Ismail and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan; Writing by Michael Georgy; editing by John Stonestreet) ((michael.georgy@thomsonreuters.com;)(M)(+2010 271 00098)(O)(+20 225783290; Reuters Messaging: michael.georgy.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))