UDUPI: Through the network of local informants, the most-wanted naxal of Karnataka, Vikram Gowda (44), was eliminated by ANF team in an encounter in Pithubail, Nadpalu village of Hebri taluk of Udupi district on Monday night.

In first such operation in the southern state in 13 years, the ANF of the Karnataka police gunned down senior Maoist leader Vikram Gowda during an encounter in the Kabbinale forests of Udupi district

Vikram Gowda, killed in an alleged encounter with the Anti Naxal Force (ANF) commandos late on Monday night, was a class 4 dropout from the tribal Malekudiya community, who grew to be a prominent Maoist leader.

In a significant breakthrough, the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) of Karnataka Police neutralised Vikram Gowda, a fugitive Naxal leader, in a late-night encounter on Monday in the Kabbinale forest region of Udupi district.

Vikram Gowda, a key Naxal leader who had been absconding for over two decades, was shot dead during an encounter with the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) in the Western Ghats on Monday. The incident occurred during a police operation to apprehend Naxal operatives in the region.

He is an accused in the murder of Sadashiva Gowda who Maoists suspected to be a police informer. Sadashiva was kidnapped and murdered near Kabbinale in Hebri on December 19, 2011.

BANGALORE: One of the most wanted Maoist leaders in South India, Vikram Gowda, was killed by Karnataka Police in an encounter in the Kabbina..|News Track

Vikram Gowda, a notorious Naxalite leader wanted in over 80 cases in Karnataka and Kerala, was killed in an encounter with police in a remote village near Udupi. The 46-year-old, who led the Kabini Dalam-2 Naxal group,

"Our police forces encountered dreaded naxal leader Vikram Gowda on Monday evening. After being spotted by the police, Vikram Gowda opened fire on the police. The police in turn opened fire on him and killed him,

Vikram Gowda, Karnataka’s most wanted Naxal leader, was killed in a gunfight with the Anti-Naxal Force in Udupi on8. Gowda, head of the Netravati wing of the Naxal movement, had been evading capture for years and was involved in multiple subversive activities across the state.