Bengaluru/IBNS/UNI: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday assured action against those who vandalised the English signboards during protests organised by pro-Kannada outfits.

"I don't know what they (the protestors) are doing. I have got information that Narayana Gowda is protesting about having Kannada nameplates. We will take action against those who took the law into their own hands and went against the law," he told reporters in Kolar.

Earlier in the day, the activists targeted commercial establishments in Bengaluru and damaged their signboards and name plates which did not use Kannada. Others sprayed black ink on English letters.

Another group of activists also carried out rallies in various parts of the city, especially in the business hubs such as MG Road, Brigade Road, Lavelle Road, UB City, and Mall Asia located on Bellary Road.

The vandalisation stopped after police intervention. The pro-Kannada activists are demanding 60 percent Kannada on all sign boards of shops, malls, and other commercial establishments.

The protests were staged days after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) threatened to cancel the licenses of those commercial establishments in Bengaluru that failed to change their signboards into Kannada language by February end.