Indian police arrest man over Facebook post

New Delhi: Police in southern India said Tuesday they have arrested a man for posting a doctored image on Facebook showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi bowing before a controversial Muslim leader.

Mohammed Mehboob, 25, was arrested on Sunday on charges of "promoting enmity between religious groups" after workers for Modi's party in southern Karnataka state's Koppal district complained about the post.

"We acted on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and arrested him," the investigating officer Kali Krishna told AFP, referring to Modi's Hindu nationalist party.

The image showed Modi touching the feet of Akbaruddin Owaisi, a controversial Muslim legislator from neighbouring Telangana state who has been prosecuted for making derogatory remarks about Modi in the past.

In March, police in central India arrested two Muslim men on charges of obscenity over a doctored image of Mohan Bhagwat, a leader of the controversial Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The image showed Bhagwat dressed in a tight pair of women's trousers and black high heels, an apparent reference to the group's decision to change their trademark khaki shorts for brown trousers.