Two young men were detained on Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in the sexual assault of women in Milan's Piazza Duomo on New Year's Eve.
Nine women, including two German visitors, reported being victims of the attacks by gangs of youths in three separate incidents.
The case has echoes of one which occurred in Cologne in 2016.
On Tuesday police searched the homes of 18 people suspected of involvement to find evidence and, at the moment, 12 are under investigation.
The two suspects detained on Wednesday are a 21-year-old from Turin and an 18-year-old from Milan.
Milan Prosecutor Riccardo Targetti said the two are accused of "serious sexual violence" accompanied by "the robbery of cell phones and handbags".
He said they had been detained because there was a danger of them trying to escape given the seriousness of the evidence against them.
Indeed, the pair were not present on Tuesday when their homes were searched.
They were allegedly involved in two of the three attacks.
Investigators said they found clothes matching those worn by assailants on New Year's Eve at the homes of the suspects.
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