Karim Hamdy.

CAIRO — Two Egyptian policemen accused of killing a lawyer in custody were detained on Thursday on the orders of an Egyptian prosecutor, judicial sources said, a rare action against members of the security forces.

The officers, a lieutenant colonel and a major, will be held for four days pending investigations in to the death of Karim Hamdy on Tuesday, sources at the prosecutor’s office said, and could be charged with murder.

Hamdy, 27, died from torture two days after his arrest and the initial forensic report showed he had sustained fractures in the ribs, bruises and bleeding in the chest and head, they said.

Dozens of lawyers staged a protest outside a Cairo court to protest about Hamdy’s death. They carried pictures of him and chanted “the Interior Ministry are thugs.”

Hamdy was arrested at his home on charges of taking part in anti-government protests organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that the army removed from power in mid-2013.

Egyptian police, notorious for human rights abuses during the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, melted away during an uprising which toppled him in 2011.

Since then, the police have made a strong comeback, with rights groups once again accusing them of abuses.