New Delhi, May 17

Police in southern India said today they had 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 Karnataka state’s Koppal complained about the post.

“We acted on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party workers,” the investigating officer Kali Krishna told AFP.

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

In March, police arrested two Muslim men on charges of obscenity over a doctored image of Mohan Bhagwat, a leader of the controversial Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.