By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A group of Kannada activists, including Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, on Saturday vandalised signboards of some commercial establishments on Raj Bhavan Road and Brigade Road for not putting up boards in Kannada. They were detained by Ashoknagar police and later released.

Vatal Nagaraj said that they damaged boards of The Capitol Hotel and adjacent buildings on Raj Bhavan Road as “they did not have Kannada names in proper fonts. Later, we went to Brigade Road and poured tar on shops which had only English names. We have given a 15-day deadline to put up Kannada boards.”

Mayor says protest unacceptable

Mayor M Goutham Kumar said, “A deadline was set but still many have not done it. So far, we have sent 28,000 notices. Bengaluru is a big city and ensuring all commercial establishments follow the rules takes time. We will conduct a drive soon, especially in CBD areas. These areas are the face of the cosmopolitan city, but they have to follow the order. But painting boards black and damaging the boards is unacceptable,” he said.