Udupi: Maoist leader Vikram Gowda (46) was killed in an exchange of fire between the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and a group of Naxals at Peete Bailu village in Kabbinale area near Hebri of Udupi district late on Monday night. The incident marks the first killing of a Naxal leader in an encounter in Karnataka since 2012.
Vikram Gowda was the most prominent member of the Maoist group active in the State and had been on the Police’s most wanted list for 22 years. A member of Malekudiya tribal community, he went underground to join the armed Naxal Movement.
