Indian police, besides openly beating people with rattan canes, have taken to more savage methods to stop people from flouting lockdown rules.

Police in one state took to pranking those caught out and about, by throwing them into an ambulance with a "Covid-19-infected patient".

This latest method of dealing with violators is a step up from their previous punishments, which included getting violators to do push-ups or have them hold their ears while doing squats in public.

Tamil Nadu police having fun

Police in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu tried out this more novel way to get the message across to lockdown violators, since beatings and other unusual punishments already meted out elsewhere in India have proved effective to a certain extent.

The results were hilarious.

The Tamil Nadu Police official social media pages showed the video of terrified lockdown violators hauled into a waiting ambulance with a "Covid-19 infected patient" supposedly inside.

Citizens in the state are not allowed to go out in groups and have been told to wear a face mask at all times, even when they are out at allotted times for essential purposes.

What video showed

The police officers had stopped the men while waiting at a roadblock in Tirupur.

Three men were squeezed onto a motorbike with none of them wearing face masks.

They were then given the lesson of their lives.

“Why are three of you on the bike? Where are your masks? Don’t you know what happens if you don’t wear one?” one of the police officers said in the video.

The officers then dragged the men into the ambulance parked nearby.

The men tried to escape when they saw the "Covid-19 patient" inside, with one man stepping back and covering his face, as all of them struggled with the police.

The cameraperson can be heard laughing as the men stayed as far away from the coughing patient as they can while in the ambulance.

The patient then got up, and this resulted in the men trying to escape by squeezing themselves out through the windows as they begged the patient to stay away from them.

They banged on the doors as they pleaded to be released.

Not real Covid-19 patient

“The boys were caught loitering and said that they don’t have face masks. So we decided to show them what is the cost of not wearing one and put them in the ambulance,” said Officer Palaniyamal in the video.

She reiterated that the “patient” was just an actor and the men were not intentionally put in danger, but added that people must wear face masks if they do go out.

The video has been shared on multiple Facebook pages, and has been watched by millions worldwide.

The lockdown in India has been extended to May 3, with five cities in Tamil Nadu — Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Tirupur — under stricter restrictions.