A day after Kannada groups attacked cinema halls showing Tamil movies and a Tamil Sangam office in Bangalore, restaurants run by a Karnataka business house were ransacked in Chennai on the Hogenakkal issue while the groups continued their agitation in Karnataka attacking the office of a Tamil daily and blocking traffic.

Two restaurants, one located on the premises of the MadrasHigh Court and another at Armenian Street--belonging to Karnataka business man, were attacked and ransacked allegedly by a group of advocates.

Two employees of the restaurants and two others were injured in the attack, the police said. Cable TV operators in Tamil Nadu decided to black out Kannada satellite TV Channels from Thursday.

Kayal Ilavarasu, president, Tamil Nadu Cable TV Owners' Association, said the association had requested local multi-system operators not to beam Kannada channels. However, much to the relief of viewers, cable operators in Karnataka decided not to black out Tamil channels as demanded by pro-Kannada groups.

Karnataka state cable TV Operators Association and Multisystem Operators Association on Wednesday held a meeting and decided not to black out Tamil channels as of now, their spokesperson V S Patric Raju said.

Raju said it was decided to take all channels, not just Tamil channels alone, off air for 12 hours from 6 am to 6pm, on April 10, the day of the bandh called by pro-Kannada groups.

In Karnataka, a group of agitators stormed the office of the Tamil daily, blackened its board and threatened the staff not to bring out Thursday's edition.