Daijiworld Media Network - Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam, Nov 18: In a major setback for the Maoist insurgency in India, top commander Madvi Hidma was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitharamaraju district along the Andhra-Odisha border on Tuesday. Hidma’s wife, Raje, and four of his close aides were also killed during the encounter in the Maredumilli forest area.
Andhra Pradesh’s Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), Mahesh Chandra Laddha, said the confrontation took place between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., following precise intelligence about Maoist leaders moving into Andhra Pradesh to regroup after sustained pressure in Chhattisgarh. “Bodies of six Maoists were recovered, including Madvi Hidma, a Central Committee member and first battalion commandant, his wife, and four of his gunmen,” he said. Some Maoists reportedly fled, and combing operations are ongoing.
Security forces seized two AK-47 rifles, a pistol, a revolver, a single-bore weapon, and other equipment from the site.
Hidma, around 51 years old, had been India’s most wanted Maoist commander and the chief of the first battalion of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), known for its lethal attacks. A tribal leader from Bastar, Chhattisgarh, he rose through the ranks to become a Central Committee member and was the mastermind behind numerous high-profile assaults on security personnel over the past two decades.
He was accused of orchestrating the 2010 Dantewada massacre that killed 76 CRPF personnel, the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack that claimed 27 lives, including prominent Congress leaders, and the 2021 Sukma attack that killed 22 central paramilitary personnel. Hidma had gone underground 25 years ago and had a bounty of Rs 6 crore on his head.
Tuesday’s encounter marks a significant blow to the CPI(Maoist), disrupting its efforts to regroup in the Andhra-Odisha border region, historically one of the group’s strongholds. Security officials view Hidma’s elimination as a major achievement in ongoing anti-Maoist operations, following a series of successful operations in Chhattisgarh.