Vikram Gowda, a key Maoist leader from Karnataka, was killed in an alleged exchange of fire with the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) at Peetabailu village near Hebri in Udupi district on November 18 night. The incident marks the first killing of a Maoist leader in an encounter in Karnataka since 2012.
Gowda (44), a class 4 dropout from the tribal Malekudiya community hailing from a family of peasants, was wanted by the security agencies for 22 years and has over 114 cases pending against him in Karnataka and Kerala. He was among the nine Maoists accused in the murder of 50-year-old bamboo basket weaver Sadashiva Gowda in December 2011. For the last few days, six members of Maoist’s ‘Kabini Dalam’, including Gowda, were searching for a safe place in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, and Kodagu districts.
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