Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor here and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew.

Chief minister and Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot appealed for calm and urged the Prime Minister to address the people.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind condemned the heinous killing, saying such an act cannot be justified in any way and it is against Islam.

Prohibitory orders banning people from assembling were clamped across the state for a month and mobile Internet services suspended for the next 24 hours. At 8pm, curfew was declared till further orders in seven police station areas of Udaipur city.

The Union home ministry dispatched a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to Udaipur, officials said. Rajasthan Police also announced a special investigation team (SIT) soon after the arrest of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had “beheaded” the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

Indirectly, the assailants referred to Nupur Sharma, the BJP leader suspended from the party over a remark on Prophet Mohammed.

Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was recently arrested by the local police over some remarks made on social media by him.

The assailants entered his shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took the measurements, Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone. The men fled from the scene and later uploaded this clip on social media.

In another video, the alleged assailant said they “beheaded” the tailor and threatened the Prime Minister for lighting “this fire”.

Police sources said Akhtari works at a local mosque and the other assailant runs a grocery shop.

For several hours, shopkeepers stopped police from taking away the body, saying they will allow the removal of the corpse only after the murderers are arrested and compensation -- Rs 50 lakh and a government job -- given to the victim’s family. Later, they agreed to assurances given by the authorities.

In a statement, Maulana Hakeemuddin Qasmi, general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, condemned the "brutal killing in Udaipur apparently on the pretext of the insult to the Prophet" and called it against the law of land as well as "against the religion of Islam".

He said whoever has perpetrated this incident cannot be justified in any way and the act was against the law of the land and "our religion".

"In our country, there is a system of law, no one has the right to take the law into his own hands," Qasmi said.

He also appealed to all citizens of the country to exercise restraint and maintain peace in the country.

On Twitter, chief minister Gehlot asked people not to share the videos.

“The guilty will not be spared. The entire police team is working on it with full alertness. I can imagine the anger which is there among people due to the murder. We are taking action accordingly,” he told reporters in Jodhpur.

Gehlot said there was communal tension in the country and the Prime Minister should address the people. He said both Hindus and Muslims are worried.

“It is more impactful if the Prime Minister speaks. I believe that the Prime Minister should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?” he said.

A four-member police SIT headed by Ashok Rathore, the additional director general of the Special Operations Group, has been asked to probe the case. Praful Kumar, inspector general of the Anti Terror Squad, is also part of the team.

About 600 more policemen, including five companies of the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary, were sent to Udaipur, officials said. Senior police officers were also rushed to the city.

Gehlot said the trial would be fast-tracked under the state’s “case officer scheme”.