Four army officers, who were detained for torturing suspects in a police station in a widely circulated torture video, have been released, according to a security source.

According to the source, a technical analysis of the video has revealed that it is a ‘fake’. The video, which was posted on Facebook, showed three detainees in a police station in the Delta city of Daqahliya being beaten and electrocuted by police and army officers. The video caused a public outcry and accusations that Mubarak-era torture techniques were once again being used in police stations to extract confessions from suspects.

However, immediately after the release of the video the military judiciary announced that it would launch a “swift investigation” into the case. The four army officers who appeared in the video were transferred for military trial, but it was later announced that only two of the officers took part in the torture.

Now, however, the security source says that all four will be released and that an investigation into the matter has revealed that the detainees who appeared in the video were thugs and weapons smugglers, and had attacked homes and women in Daqahliya. Additionally, according to the investigation, the detainees had stolen the door of a prison cell and used it to protect their homes when they were being arrested and shot live ammunition at the officers who tried to detain them. One of them also slapped one of the army officers who were transferring him to the police station.

It is not yet clear why the video was deemed a fake.