Bangalore: Pro-Kannada activists today (Aug 18, 2004) stoned a theatre and ransacked the offices of a film distributor and film chamber in support of their demand for screening of only Kannada films in the city, police said.

The activists numbering around 50, under the banner of "Kannada Rakshana Vedike", stormed into the Karnataka Film Chamber's temporary office at Gandhinagar, the hub of film distribution activities, and ransacked it, police said.

They also targeted the office of a Hindi film distributor and a film theatre "Movie land" screening a Telugu film.

The activists pelted stones at the theatre, resulting in glass-breaks while in the other two places, furniture, computers were targeted, police said.

The attacks come days after the Kannada film industry led by matinee idol Rajkumar staged a massive rally in Bangalore on August nine in protest against cut in entertainment tax on non-Kannada films announced in the State budget.

The Congress-JDS (Janata Dal Secular) Government has constituted a committee to look into the grievances of the Kannada film industry.

Meanwhile, the chamber President S Ramesh told reporters that while Kannada movies should enjoy primacy, the problems of exhibitors and distributors of non-Kannada films should also be realised and the matter should be solved amicably.