Police have arrested the alleged ringleader of a mob who tortured a Muslim man in eastern India for hours, forcing him to shout Hindu slogans, before he later died.

Key points: Tabrez Ansari was set upon by a mob who accused him of being a thief

Tabrez Ansari was set upon by a mob who accused him of being a thief The 24-year-old died in hospital four days after the 12-hour attack

The 24-year-old died in hospital four days after the 12-hour attack Dozens of Muslims have been killed by Hindu groups in the past five years

A 10-minute video shows scores of men beating Tabrez Ansari in the latest suspected case of religious violence in India.

The mob also forced Mr Ansari to shout "Jai Shri Ram" — Hail Lord Ram — a slogan widely used by Hindu hardliners.

Mr Ansari died in hospital on Saturday, four days after he was attacked, tied to a pole, then beaten and punched over accusations that he carried out a burglary in Jharkhand state.

The mob killing was captured on a video, which has gone viral since the victim died.

"We have arrested the main accused for the murder, but a dozen people from the mob are on the run," Seraikela Police Chief Kartik S said.

He said villagers accused the 24-year-old victim of being a thief and beat him for nearly 12 hours.

Mr Ansari was first taken into custody, before he was later transported to hospital.

News of his death emerged as India's Government rejected a US State Department report that said religious intolerance and violence against minorities had spiked under right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The US religious freedom report said there had been an increase in attacks by groups claiming to protect cows — considered sacred by Hindus — on Muslims and low-caste Dalits since 2014, when Mr Modi came to power.

India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country was "proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion".

Dozens of people, many of them Muslims, have been killed by Hindu groups in the past five years over allegations that they had slaughtered cows or eaten beef.

Experts said the landslide election win in 2014 by Mr Modi's conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had emboldened Hindu hardliners.

The BJP won an even bigger majority in May, leading to fears of more communal violence.

Critics have accused the Modi Government of turning a blind eye to vigilante attacks on minority Muslims in the name of cow protection.

Mr Modi has called the deaths "unacceptable" and called the mobs "anti-social" in his rare comments on the cases.

AFP