Updated

Police have arrested 17 members of a hard-line Hindu group after a Muslim man was beaten to death in western India.

Deputy Police Commissioner Manoj Patil said Friday the men were being questioned in the killing of Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh in Pune city.

Shaikh was returning home from a mosque on Monday night when a group of men beat him with iron rods.

The Hindu group had been protesting against derogatory pictures posted on Facebook of a 17th century warrior king whom they revere.

Patil said Shaikh had nothing to do with the posts but was caught by the armed men and fatally beaten.

Muslims fear that hard-line Hindu groups will be emboldened by the overwhelming victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in recent general elections.