UDUPI : Stating that ANF cops gave all opportunities for Naxal leader Vikram Gowda to surrender on Monday, ISD DG Pronab Mohanty said that gunning him down was the last resort for ANF team to avoid being hit by the bullets from Gowda’s weapon.
Speaking to reporters in Hebri here on Wednesday, the DG said it was a ‘chance’ encounter as ANF was combing the area and Vikram Gowda and his team also arrived at Pithubail, Nadpal village, Hebri taluk to collect ration from the house.
The DG rejected the theory of this being a case of ambush by the ANF team. On Tuesday, when news of the encounter first broke out and ANF team did not clarify on many suspicions surrounding the episode, many believed that by ambushing a house in Pithubail, Vikram Gowda was killed by ANF.
In response to a query about how his identity was confirmed since an old photo is in circulation, DG said for more than a decade, the ANF has been working on the case. “We do have recent pictures not only of Gowda but also of those engaged in Naxal activity. The family too has confirmed, and the body of Vikram Gowda was handed over after necessary formalities,’’ DG said.
Further, the DG said that after the encounter on Monday, the combing operation has been intensified in the forest to nab the other two or- three absconding Naxalites. “We will build confidence among the local people that ANF will protect them and there is no need for worry. We have intelligence inputs on the local sympathisers and it is also being handled,” he said.
He said that a special surrender policy of the Karnataka government announced in 2024 provides all room for the extreme ideologues to give up weapons and join the mainstream. The special package offer is for those who want to surrender, but the operation to curb Naxalism will continue, he reiterated.
Mohanty said that several extortion, murder and other cases were registered against Naxal Vikram Gowda, and added during the encounter in Pithubail, that the ANF team recovered 9 MM carbine gun from Vikram Gowda’s possession.