CAIRO, Aug 29 (Aswat Masriya)- Egypt's prosecution ordered on Monday the detention of a low-ranking policeman, accused of killing a microbus driver in the district of Maadi, four days pending investigations.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the driver was killed following a dispute with the policeman who shot the driver in the neck.

The Ministry of Interior, however, said in a statement earlier on Monday that a fight erupted between two drivers, prompting the low-ranking policeman to intervene.

The policeman fired warning shots which "accidentally" hit one of the drivers and killed him, the ministry said.

In the aftermath of the incident, microbus drivers in the Maadi area started a strike, calling for retribution for their fellow driver.

Last April, a low-ranking policeman shot dead a tea vendor a tea vendor and injured two more people in the upscale suburban neighbourhood of Rehab, after a quarrel over his refusal to pay for a cup of tea.

Similarly, a policeman shot dead a driver in the al-Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood over the cost of loading goods in February.

The incidents sparked public outrage at the police and hundreds took to protest in Cairo's streets after the killings, in an expression of anger that has become rare in the past few years.

Police brutality was one of the triggers of the Jan. 25, 2011 uprising, sparked by protests on Police Day in Egypt aimed to draw attention to the police's use of excessive, at times fatal, force.