Police have found the minibus used in the kidnapping of university student Roumen Gouninski, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily on October 26 2009.

The vehicle, a Volkswagen Transporter, was found burned down with doors welded to the body. According to Borissov, this was evidence that the organised crime group knew how Interior Ministry functioned and what its investigation methods were.

Borissov did not say when and were the minibus was found. The news about the police findings comes eight days after the son of of businessman Roumen Gouninski, who is also a Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) municipal councillor in the town of Pravets, was kidnapped just before 8pm on October 19 in Sofia's Studentski Grad borough while walking his dog.

The abduction took place in front of a number of witnesses but so far police has not made any major breakthrough with both kidnappers and kidnapped missing.

Gouninski Snr. was BSP's candidate for mayor of Pravets in the upcoming by-election, but withdrew his candidacy after the kidnapping took place.

Media speculated say that the father has received a text message from kidnappers with demands for one million leva in ransom and deadline for its delivery, which has been denied by both Gouninski and police.

After the kidnapping took place, which is the first crime of such great public interest that new Prime Minister Borissov has had to face since taking office, Bulgarian police attaches all over the European Union were asked to compare the experience other countries have in dealing with such crimes.

On October 26, Borissov backed down on his previous idea that there had to be a special law against kidnappings with harsher punishments. He said that there would not be such a law, instead sanctions in the Penal Code would be raised to stipulate 30 years imprisonment.