Egyptian officer shoots driver in groin following fare dispute

An Egyptian police officer has been arrested in Cairo for shooting a minibus driver in his groin following a dispute over the fare, prompting locals to hold an impromptu demonstration against widespread police brutality.

Officer Ahmad Samir was arrested on Wednesday following the shooting close to a bus station in the Cairo district of Heliopolis, a security source told The New Arab.

The source added that the officer is being held in a nearby police station and that the wounded driver was rushed to hospital, local media published graphic images of the badly wounded driver.

Witnesses to the incident said the officer told the driver: "I am going to disable you for the rest of your life", before purposely firing his handgun in the direction of the driver's testicles.

Footage of locals rioting after the incident, chanting "the police are thugs" and attacking the officer as he fled in a police car was widely shared on social media.

The New Arab cannot verify the authenticity of the footage.

Public outcry over widespread incidents of police brutality has increased in recent months.

A little over a week ago, a policeman shot dead a street vendor over the price of a cup of tea.

Another policeman shot dead a tuk-tuk driver in February, using his official firearm following an argument over the price of ferrying goods, setting off protests in a Cairo neighbourhood.

Egyptian authorities have responded by saying the killings are "isolated incidents of violence" and that such acts have been instigated by "evil people" want to destabilise the troubled country.

Last week, reports emerged that Italian student Giulio Regeni who was tortured and murdered in Egypt was arrested by police and then transferred to Homeland Security the day he disappeared.

Anger over police abuses helped fuel the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and began on a Police Day holiday.