Coimbatore: An act of bravado landed five people behind bars after pictures of them posing with a king cobra they had caught went viral on social media.
The five men, residents of a village near Gudalur in the neighbouring Nilgris District, were arrested on charges of torturing the reptile, police said.
Allegedly under the influence of liquor, they had on 4 August caught the cobra from a tree in their locality and taken selfies after putting it on their shoulders.
The five men had taken several selfies with mobile phones in different postures, torturing the reptile, police said. Later, they shared the pictures on Facebook.
Based on complaints from wildlife activists and public, the forest department carried out investigations and detained the five from Cherampadi area and handed them over to local police.
A case had been registered against them for torturing the snake, police said adding a search was on for one more person allegedly involved in the incident.