Mangaluru: A Karnataka minister has refused to fall in line with the central government's ban on red beacons in VIP vehicles, saying he would remove it if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah instructs him to do so.

"If the Chief Minister asks me to remove the red beacon light, I will obey his instruction and remove it," Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader said. Khader said it was the state government that had given him the car with a red beacon light, not central government, and he had no right to alter it.