Muslim protest India
A woman shouts during a protest against the recent cases of mob lynching of Muslims who were accused of possessing beef, in Mumbai, India on 3 July 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

A Muslim man was beaten to death in the Indian state of Jharkhand after he asked a group to stop playing loud music on New Year's Day.

19-year-old Waseem Ansari was attacked by several people after he requested that they turned down their tunes on Monday (1 January).

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The labourer was beaten to death with cooking implements in his home village of Mandar, near to the state capital Ranchi.

People blocked the state motorway on Tuesday (2 January), demanding the arrest of the suspects. Extra security personnel have been deployed to maintain peace between the Muslim and Hindu communities in Jharkhand following the killing.

A senior police officer told BBC Hindi: "Preliminary inquiry suggests that a group was playing loud music to celebrate New Year's Day.

"Waseem Ansari and two of his friends approached the group and told them to stop playing loud music. This led to an argument and Waseem was attacked by the group. It seems he was hit by one of the sharp instruments used in cooking."

The officer said that the "suspects will be arrested soon".

Hasibul Ansari witnessed the attack. He told the BBC: "These people were partying near a Muslim graveyard. When Waseem told them to stop, they killed him.

"His friends were lucky that they managed to escape in time. I am very sure they would have been killed too if they had not escaped."

India