Two arrested for murder of Hindu tailor

In the case of the execution of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, the Indian police sparked unease between the Hindu minority and the Muslim minority, leading to a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent tensions.

Three senior police officials said on Saturday that two Muslim men based in the northwestern state were held for planning the tailor's murder last week in his shop in Udaipur, a popular tourist destination dotted with lakes and palace hotels.

Prafulla Kumar, a senior police official from Udaipur, said that we have now arrested two masterminds and previously had arrested two men who committed the heinous crime.

Kumar said internet services were being restored and security forces continued to be on alert after the murder, which was carried out by two Muslim men now under arrest who filmed the act and posted it online.

The perpetrators said that the act was in response to the victim's support for a politician's derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad. The victim, Kanhaiya Lal Teli, had allegedly posted a social media post supporting a former spokesman for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party who made anti-Islam comments in May.

On Friday, judges from the Supreme Court of India said that the ex-spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, must apologise to the whole nation after the remarks intensified religious fault lines in India, angered Islamic nations and caused diplomatic strains.

In India, at least two demonstrators were killed in police fire during protests against Sharma's comments.

In Afghanistan, the militant group Islamic State claimed last month an attack on a Sikh temple in which at least two people were killed and seven injured in response to insults directed at Prophet Mohammad in India.

The police in New Delhi arrested journalist Mohammed Zubair, a vocal critic of the Modi government who had helped draw attention to Sharma's remarks through his fact-checking website Alt News and social media.

The National Investigative Agency NIA -- India's top anti-terrorism agency - said they were carrying out a probe into the killing of a Hindu tailor.

A senior NIA official in New Delhi said they were questioning Muslims linked to the four accused in Udaipur to identify whether they had links with militant networks.

Muslims living about 3 kilometres from the tailor's shop where the victim was killed said they were nervous and feared a social and economic boycott by powerful Hindus residing in Udaipur.

Mohammad Farukh, a medical representative living in a Muslim-dominated area of the city, said that the community should not be held responsible for the deed of two people.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board called the incident highly condemnable and said it was against Indian law and Islamic strictures.