Maoist leader Vikram Gowda’s encounter death in Karnataka: A case file

Key Maoist leader Vikram Gowda killed in encounter with ANF in Karnataka, first Maoist leader killed in state since 2012.

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.

According to sources, ANF personnel recovered a 9-mm carbine machine gun allegedly used by Gowda during the encounter. None of the ANF personnel sustained injuries. Home Minister G. Parameshwara said while Gowda was killed, three others who were with him were missing. He said the police were alerted to Maoist activities last week, and combing was intensified after two Maoists, identified as Raju and Lata, were seen in the region. “The combing on November 18 was based on a tip-off. The Maoists opened fire on spotting the police squad, and an encounter ensued,” he said.

Meanwhile, Banjagere Jayaprakash, a member of the Karnataka State committee to oversee implementation of the rehabilitation policy to surrender/assimilate Left Wing Extremists, said that despite giving wide publicity to their appeals to Maoists to join the mainstream, none had got in touch. However, he condemned Gowda’s killing and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.