The arrest of three notorious pranksters by counter terrorism officers has prompted some to question whether it was an 'overreaction' and 'waste of police time'.

Hundreds have taken to social media to criticise Victoria Police over the decision to take Max, 20, Arman, 18, and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, into custody for questioning.

But others have supported police over the early morning raid of the two Jalal brother's home in South Morang, Melbourne, with many calling for the 'comedians' to be charged and sent to jail.

The boys, who dress up in traditional Arab robes and fake terror attacks to try and scare unsuspecting bystanders, surrendered themselves to police on Thursday morning.

Three infamous pranksters have been arrested by Victoria Police over controversial videos

Max(L), 20, Arman Jalal, 18 (R) and a 16-year-old who can not be named for legal reasons attended a police station on Thursday shortly after counter terrorism detectives executed a warrant at their Melbourne home

Thomas Woods wrote on Facebook: 'Seriously the police investigating the Jalals surely have better things to be doing.'

Gul N Mehmet Tan tweeted: 'Why Dont The Police catch the real criminals (sic)'

Dragan Ubiparipovic said: 'Go stop real crime, taking this to far.'

Zaky Mallah said: 'A police search warrant to raid the Jalal brothers home? What are the Vic police searching for? The fake golden gun? Or the Muslim robes?'

Kevin Farrugia said: 'All you guys saying well done vic pol, send them away, they're just some teens trying to make people laugh, doesn't need all this publicity. disappointing vic pol...'

Kane GaryTurtels said: 'Well done Victoria police. I can now sleep at night knowing you have saved the community from these crazy kids.'

Mary B said: 'What an overreaction from police!!! #Jalals'

Others questioned why it had taken the police so long to take action, as the first 'extreme' suicide bomber hoax video aired in December.

Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther from Victoria Police confirmed that police had been investigating the pranksters for the past month

Vivian said: 'Why have they been allowed to continue with this behaviour for so long?'

Michael L tweeted: 'About time Victoria Police.'

Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther from Victoria Police told media that the response has been 'driven by the changing nature of these posts and the escalation in terms of content'.

'We believe the tipping point has been reached where the content is completely unacceptable and it is in fact criminal. And that is how we will be proceeding with it,' he said.

'They have caused some significant alarm in our community when we already have heightened security.

'The videos portray terrorists in a certain way and it causes anxiety and problematic behaviours within the community.

'It is problematic for police attending incidents like this as there is potential for serious injury and that is of concern to us. This behaviour is not okay.'

He said the counter terrorism unit is involved because the videos create fear in the community and promote criminal behaviour.

The boys were slammed for their latest video which showed them firing a fake AK-47 at a five-year-old girl and her father while they were standing by a phone box

The pair can then be seen running for their life from the phone box, with the phone left swinging on its cord

The trio were slammed for the video, which saw them dressing in Arab robes and brandishing fake guns

The men revealed that they tried to make amends after the 'drive by shooting' video and gave the little girl some sweets

'I quite deliberately chose to bring this matter and pursue it within my command,' he told the press conference.

'The counter terrorism command has a preventative aspect, so it looks at high risk members as well as those that provide an environment where that could happen.'

The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that police had been investigating the pranksters for the past month - but said they have not yet been charged.

Police said they did not see the videos as 'childhood pranks' and revealed that there had been a number of complaints to Crimestoppers.

Hundreds of people on social media have commended the police for their action, saying that the videos caused 'fear' in the community.

Darren Lawson said: 'Even though it was a prank, it could have scared people and caused heart attacks, anxiety attacks or other medical problems.

'Not only that, if they had of pranked the wrong person, they could have got themselves killed too.You can't run around with fake guns pretending to shoot someone in the public and expect nothin will happen.'

Mary Campagnolo said: 'Congratulations to Victoria Police! Can't see a vestige of humour in these kind of pranks! Who could possibly laugh at a young girl traumatised by three dim witted hooligans.'

The trio first came under fire in December last year with a 'public bomb scare' stunt that showed a man in a white robe thrusting a bag into a man's lap

Another part of the video showed one of the 'pranksters' launching the backpack into the open window of someone's car

The pranksters were slammed for their latest video which showed them firing a fake AK-47 at a five-year-old girl and her father while they were standing by a phone box.

The girl was seen running for her life in the disturbing footage which attracted thousands of damning comments.

'What happens if there was a police officer there who witnessed that?' Commissioner Ashton said.

'It could be a very deadly situation very quickly.'

Some of the more shocking moments in their videos include hurling suspicious parcels at random strangers before sprinting off and staging the kidnap of a woman on a busy Gold Coast street.

One of the 'entertainers' is also seen appearing to simulate a sex act with a chicken in a spoof version of an MTV Cribs video which also shows a number of the animals being kept in a fridge.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia the day before their arrest, the pranksters defended their antics, claiming that they never wanted to spread fear and that it was all supposed to be 'funny'.

'You shouldn't take life too seriously. Everyone should laugh more, it helps you live longer,' Max said.

'We get a lot of negative comments and even death threats with people saying they are going to shoot us. But we just try to ignore it and laugh it off.'

Speaking on Wednesday, Max said that he was 'aware' of an ongoing police investigation, but at that point he had not heard anything from police.

The brothers even claimed that Arman was shot during filming for a suicide bombing prank (shown)

They posted pictures of him in hospital, saying: 'It's been a hard 2 weeks filming without you little Jalal'

The 20-year-old Law student, who has started his degree at Victoria University, said he had thought about how the extreme videos might affect his career.

'It has crossed my mind, but I want to concentrate on the videos,' he said.

The trio first came under fire in December last year with a 'public bomb scare' stunt that showed a man in a white robe thrusting a bag into a man's lap.

The man immediately tossed the bag away from him and jumped into a nearby lake in the clip which has more than 85 million views.

Another part of the video showed one of the 'pranksters' launching the backpack into the open window of someone's car.

The driver quickly abandoned the vehicle leaving the door flung wide open.

Despite an outpouring of negative comments, the brothers amassed legions of followers with their official Facebook page attracting over a million likes just days after they released the video.

The eldest brother, Max (pictured), whose Facebook pages states: 'I do bomb pranks for a living', attended Mill Park Secondary College with Arman

The entertainers, who have more than 1.8 million likes on their Facebook page, have defended their antics, pictured is Arman

Despite an outpouring of negative comments, the group amassed legions of followers with their official Facebook page attracting over a million likes just days after they released the video

Max Jalal is pictured (left) with his brother Arman (second right) posing in front of sports cars

'In just one week we managed to achieve 1 million likes on this page, that's crazy,' they wrote on Facebook.

'We couldn't of done it without you guys, so we would like to personally thank each and every one of you for all the support and feedback you've given us! P.s f*** the haters.'

Max revealed that they first started filming prank videos around six months ago after seeing some videos on YouTube.

'We stumbled across some pranks online and we thought that we wanted to do something controversial that would get people talking.

'It has just exploded from there with a few of our videos. Now we have lawyers telling us whether we can or can't do something, so we go right up to the limit.

The 16-year-old involved said the trio started getting paid for their videos around two months ago and that it was 'big business'.

'We are monetising through Facebook and YouTube and we get money from sponsors and brands.'

The drive by shooting prank, which has more than 3.2million views, also shows the pranksters firing fake shots at two men standing by their parked car during the day

One of the men is seen diving for cover behind the car after hearing multiple gun shot sounds

The pranksters, who are from Melbourne, then fire fake shot at three men waiting by a bus stop

The three men can all be seen sprinting from the scene after hearing multiple gun shots

The trio has received at least $4,500 for their latest 'drive by shooting' prank through Facebook views alone.

They revealed that they have been approached by companies saying they are willing to pay them up to $100,000 per month.

Arman, 18, who attended Mill Park Secondary College with Max, said: 'I want to do bomb pranks for a living.'

The Jalals teamed up with up with another comedian Shammi (left) to stage the prank on his girlfriend Sarah Reay-Young (right)

Shocked families and children can be seen watching the pranksters stage the public kidnapping (right) on a busy street

The trio also sparked outrage with a video in January which showed them running up behind a woman, tossing a garbage bag over her head and bundling her into a van.

In the video, the Melbourne pranksters teamed up with up with Shammi – another controversial prankster who came under fire for his cruel pranks againts his girlfriend Sarah Reay-Young.

While Shammi was on a date with his girlfriend, the brothers ambushed her and staged the public kidnapping as she screamed out for help.

But the comedian has now spoken out, saying he believes the trio are becoming 'too extreme'.

'My girlfriend wasn't impressed at all, she was pretty upset at the time and I think we may have taken it a bit too far,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'When she watched it back she felt better about it all. She didn't know anything about it before it happened, I told her we were going to get lunch.

'It was all over in about five seconds, but she wasn't impressed. Even though she's prepared for pranks, you still wouldn't think about it straight away.