Alexandria prosecution opened an investigation Monday into the Sunday death of a 22-year-old man inside a police station after human rights lawyers filed a report against officers at the station, accusing them of torturing the man to death.

The lawyers claim that the officers tortured Amr Mahran Farouk, a driver, in an effort to coerce a confession regarding the theft of a tuk tuk (a three-wheel taxi).

A security source at Alexandria Security Directorate told Ahram Arabic website that the death was not due to any assaults, but was caused by an overdose from drugs taken by the man before he was arrested.

Prosecution members went to Montaza Second Department Police Station in Alexandria where Farouk died to listen to the testimony of witnesses.

The prosecution also ordered the forensics authority to examine Farouk's body to determine the cause of death and check for signs of assault.

Farouk's death marks the latest in a string of accusations by activists of torture citizens by Egyptian police in the past few weeks.

The interior ministry said last week that there will be no leniency shown in cases of torture, which it described as "isolated incidents."

Last week, Egypt's prosecution ordered  the detention of four police officers pending investigation into accusations of torture that allegedly led to the death of a man in Luxor.

Similarly, on 27 November, the interior ministry suspended an officer in Ismailia pending investigation into the death of a man in custody.