A student was arrested on charges of hurting the religious sentiments by painting Hindu gods and goddesses and Jesus Christ allegedly in obscene postures, police said in Vadodara on Thursday.

Chandra Mohan, a post-graduate student of Fine Arts at M S University in Vadodara and winner of last year's Lalit Kala Academy award, was arrested from the university premises for displaying his works at the institution's annual exhibition on Thursday night, they said.

He will be produced in a local court, they added. He has been charged under Section 153 of the IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence language etc.) and Section 114 (abettor present when offence is committed).

General secretary of the city unit of BJP, Niraj Jain, had registered a complaint against Mohan with Sayajiganj police station after which the latter was arrested.

According to college authorities, the BJP workers after learning about the display of the art work, rushed to the varsity campus and damaged some of the exhibits.

In-charge dean of the Fine Arts department, Shivaji Panikaran, said that police had entered their premises without consulting with the university authorities.

Meanwhile, noted artists, including Padma Shree awardee Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh and Surendra Nair have criticised the police action.