The MES has been fighting in Belagavi for the merger of 800-odd villages with Maharashtra. (File)
Condemning Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti's (MES) alleged attack on those taking out a wedding procession playing Kannada songs in the border district of Belagavi, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday warned of strong action against those troubling Kannadigas in Karnataka.
He said police have already taken action and the government has sent out a clear message to those taking law into their hands and trying to disturb peace.
"We strongly condemn MES vandalism, our police have taken action, we have sent out a clear message on this issue. We cannot tolerate law being taken into hands," Mr Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister said his government will take all necessary steps to maintain the law and order, and will take strong action against those troubling Kannadigas in Karnataka.
The police have detained nine workers of MES for allegedly attacking those taking out a wedding procession playing Kannada songs at Dhamnae village in Belagavi on Thursday night.
Those injured have undergone treatment at the hospital, police said.
The MES has been fighting in the border areas of Belagavi for the merger of 800-odd villages with Maharashtra, for several years now.
Maharashtra claims the border district of Belagavi was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, but is currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds.
On its part as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where legislature session is held once a year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)