Eight people have been arrested in northern India for allegedly beating a Muslim farmer to death over claims the family was eating beef - a taboo among India's majority Hindu population.

District Magistrate Nagendra Pratap Singh said a mob of about 60 Hindus became incensed when a temple announced the family had been slaughtering cows and storing the beef in his house in Bisara, a border village in Uttar Pradesh state.

Mr Singh saids the mob dragged 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq and his son from their home and beat them with sticks and bricks.

Mr Akhlaq was declared dead at a nearby hospital, while his son is being treated for serious injuries.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, took office last year, hardline Hindus have been demanding India ban beef sales - a key industry for many within India's poor, minority Muslim community.