Slideshow ( 3 images )

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish police briefly shut bridges and ferry links to Sweden and Germany on Friday 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.”

Aftonbladet, quoting unnamed sources, said the operation was linked to a kidnapping in Denmark. Police would not confirm the report.

Earlier on Friday, police briefly shut the Oresund bridge and tunnel, a near 16km (10-mile) road and rail link with Sweden that featured in the TV crime drama ‘The Bridge’. Other bridges, ferry services and Copenhagen’s main railway station were also temporarily shut.