WATCH: Vlogger faces jail over 'sick' coronavirus prank

A prankster is facing upto five years in prison over for creating panic at the Moscow underground as he shot a video of himself lying on the train floor showing symptoms of novel coronavirus that has claimed over 1000 lives in China.

According to a video shared on social media, a man in black tracksuit is seen collapsing on the ground in a train packed with passengers at Moscow underground station.

Within seconds, a person could be seen approaching the lying man, who is coughing hysterically, only to runaway from him screaming coronavirus twice.

A panic could be witnessed among the passengers sitting around the lying man as soon as they heard the name of the virus and started running away to save themselves from the virus that transmits from person to person via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread.

The coronavirus-related  prank  also showed passengers running at the platform as the train stops causing a threat of stampede.

The whole prank was staged by blogger Karomat Dzhaborov and his friends and they now faces severe consequences of their act.

According to Russian media reports, law enforcement has said the pranksters had deliberately “provoked panic” on the subway and also suspected them of hooliganism, which is quite a serious offense, carrying a maximum punishment of five years in prison or major fines.

After learning about the charges against him, Dzhaborov himself handed himself in at the Prosecutor’s Office.

Read More: Coronavirus toll rises to 1,011 in China 

The blogger’s lawyer said his client didn’t expect that the clip would lead to such harsh consequences. The counsel said that his aim was create awareness among masses regarding the disease.

But it’s the investigators who will now be looking into Dzhaborov’s motives, as the court ordered the detention of the prankster for 30 days, pending the probe.

Two of the prankster’s accomplices were detained by the police later on Monday and have been placed under travel restrictions. Computers and smartphones with evidence in the case were seized from their homes.