Pics shows: The man lifting the cop and laughs about it; A prankster who physically lifted an undersized police officer off his feet and carried him off in his arms could face up to five years in jail for his joke. Police in the Russian capital city of Moscow failed to find the stunt - which was caught on camera by an eyewitness with a smartphone - amusing. They arrested 27-year-old Islam Malekov and have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, warning him he could be jailed for assaulting a police officer. The video shows three police officers standing together at the Sukharevskaya Metro station in Moscow as Malekov sneaks up to them from behind. The bearded joker, who was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball cap, puts his arms around the shortest of the cops, picks him up and walks off with him. Malekov can be seen grinning broadly as he carries off the startled police officer who angrily demands that he be put back on the ground. His colleagues chase after Malekov who puts the policeman down as soon as they grab him by the arms. Police arrested the prankster and have opened a criminal investigation into him for assaulting a police officer. They later released him but he has been told not to leave Moscow and warned that he could be jailed for up to five years if he is convicted of the charge. The unusual case has sparked a lively debate after the footage of the incident was posted on video-sharing platforms. Netizen 'dubsmash.che' commented: "He kidnapped the cop in broad daylight!", 'majorka_tm777' said: "They were surprised", and 'magomedovali9450' added: "Nice guy!"