Animal rights activists are up in arms over the death of a horse during the shooting of a film in a village in Rajasthan.

The incident occurred Tuesday near Agneyu village in Bikaner district, over 325 km from here, during the shooting of Abhishek Bachchan-Priyanka Chopra starrer Drona.

"This is a clear cut violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and also a violation of Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code. I have requested the director general of police to direct the local police to lodge a complaint against the film's producer and the owner of the horses," Naresh Kadyan, Chairman, People for Animal, Haryana, said.

Kadyan said that in spite of animal rights activists drawing the attention of the administration and the police against the ill treatment of animals during film shoots, the government has failed to take any action.

He also pointed out that during the shooting of a film animals spend the whole day standing in the sun with no water available to them, which is "pathetic".

"During the shoot a horse suddenly started to bleed from its nose and before any medication could be given, it died", a member of the film unit told. "It seems the horse died due to forceful pulling of the string fixed in its nose".

Fifty horses were brought from Jaipur for the shooting of the Goldie Behl-directed movie, which also stars Jaya Bachchan, the mother of Abhishek Bachchan.

The Vishoi community, which reveres the animals, has threatened not to allow further shooting of the film here till a case is registered against the production house.

"The police should look into why the horse was buried without a post-mortem," said Laduram Vishnoi, a villager.

Drona is the first Hindi film to feature Abhishek with his mother.

The mother and son came to Rajasthan to shoot for the film a day after Abhishek's engagement to Aishwarya Rai Jan 14.