Police said trouble began when a group of people during a rally by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Shiv Sena activists here started pelting stones on banners carrying pictures of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa near the Collector's office and tried to forcibly take down the state flag.

Police resorted to baton charge after the protestors did not refrain from stone pelting.
The rally was in protesting against the Centre's affidavit in the Supreme Court on July 7, which said Belgaum district in Karnataka cannot be ceded to Maharashtra merely because it has a large chunk of Marathi speaking people and there had been no change on the Centre's stand on the issue.

It also said that reorganisation of states was carried out in 1956 and 1960 on the basis of various criteria and language was only one of them and not the sole factor.