Around 50 pro-Kannada activists were arrested after they protested and defaced English signboards on the city's roads demanding the use of Kannada language, police said on Wednesday.

The activists belonged to an organisation called Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), who were demanding that Kannada language should be used on public signage.

"We have arrested 47 members of the organisation, including 40 men and seven women, for destroying several signboards, hoardings and posters that were written in English near Brigade Road (in the heart of the city)," Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar told IANS.

The protests came on a day when the state was celebrating its 62nd Foundation Day.

Earlier this year on July 20, the KRV activists had defaced Hindi signs across various Metro Stations on both the Green and Purple lines in Bengaluru. 

Several members of the KRV barged into multiple metro stations, shouting slogans against Hindi imposition, and daubed black paint over Hindi signs.

Six KRV activists were arrested after they were found blackening the Hindi signboards at various Metro Stations, protesting against “Hindi imposition”.

Among the stations where they blackened signs, were Deepanjali Nagar, Peenya, Jayanagar, Baiyappanahalli, Indiranagar, Mysuru Road and Yeshwantpur.

The Bengaluru Police registered 36 cases against the Vedike’s Narayana Gowda faction for blackening the signboards.

(With IANS inputs)