Karnataka: Naxal leader Vikram Gowda gunned down in encounter

The Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) on Monday night reportedly gunned down a Naxal leader Vikram Gowda in Karnataka's Udupi district, officials said, adding that the operations were carried out late-night in the dense forests of Thingalamakki Peete Bailu located at the Kabbinale area near Hebri.

Hebri Police Sub-Inspector (SI) Mahesh TM confirmed to that Gowda was killed in an encounter.

"The deceased is Vikram Gowda, a most-wanted Naxal from Kudlu village in Nadralu, Hebri taluk. Acting on a tip-off about Naxal movement in the area, the ANF police team launched an armed operation late Monday night and targeted the Naxals," Hebri Police SI Mahesh TM told ANI.

Meanwhile, a day after a jawan sustained injuries in an encounter with Naxals in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sudhir Saxena reached here on Monday and held a confidential meeting with senior officers at the police control room regarding the future strategies against the Naxals.

An encounter between Hawk Force jawans and Naxals occurred in the forest near Duglai village under the Roopjhar police station area in Balaghat on Sunday in which a Hawk Force jawan was seriously injured. The officers immediately admitted him to a private hospital in Gondia, Maharashtra.

After the meeting, DGP Saxena reached the hospital in Gondia and enquired about the health conditions of the Jawan.

Addressing the media after the meeting, the DGP said, "Madhya Pradesh police and Balaghat police have achieved great success in the campaign against Naxals in the last few years in Balaghat district. The number of Naxalites killed in encounters in the last five years has been more than that of the Naxalites killed in the last 30 years. The members of the divisional committee level (DVCM-level members) of the Naxals were gunned down for the first time during this period and AK-47s were confiscated. The Balaghat police have registered a record success in the campaign against the Naxal movement."