New Delhi [India], December 2 (HBTV): Union Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken to senior officials after security forces neutralised Madvi Hidma, one of the most notorious Naxal commanders wanted in multiple cases of deadly attacks on security personnel, top sources said.
Hidma was eliminated days before the November 30 deadline set by security agencies for his capture or neutralisation, the sources told ANI.
He was accused of orchestrating more than 25 armed assaults on security forces and civilians and was reportedly shot dead in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitharamaraju district. Sources said the exchange of fire took place near the tri-junction of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, an area long used by Maoists as a tactical safe zone.
Born in 1981 in Purvati village of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, Hidma rose through the ranks of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army due to his aggression, endurance, and familiarity with the forest terrain. He later became commander of PLGA Battalion No. 1, the most lethal and mobile unit in the Naxal organisational structure.
Belonging to a tribal family in the Bastar region, Hidma grew up in an area heavily influenced by Left-Wing Extremism. He joined the Naxal movement as a teenager in the late 1990s, initially serving as a sangham member. He later became the youngest member of the Naxals’ Central Committee and the only tribal representative from Bastar on the outfit’s top decision-making body.
Security officials say Hidma’s killing is one of the biggest setbacks to the Naxal hierarchy in recent years.
Following the recent surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu, leadership responsibilities within the banned CPI (Maoist) had largely shifted to two senior figures: Thippiri Tirupathi, alias Devuji, and Madvi Hidma, alias Santosh. Both were leading figures in the organisation’s military wing, the Central Military Commission, which oversees armed operations.
Officials believe Hidma’s elimination could lead to further fractures within the Maoist command structure and weaken the group’s operational capabilities across central India.
Hidma gained notoriety for his expertise in ambush warfare, IED deployment, guerrilla manoeuvres, and training local cadres, including special ‘action teams’. Known for frequently shifting hideouts and avoiding traceable communication devices, he relied on dense forest terrain and local support to carry out operations and evade security forces.
He is believed to have planned or led several major Maoist attacks, including the 2010 Dantewada massacre, in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed, one of the deadliest attacks in India’s counter-insurgency history.
Officials say Hidma was also wanted in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack targeting a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, in which 27 people were killed, including senior political figures. He was additionally named in the 2017 Sukma attack that killed 25 CRPF personnel, and the 2018 Sukma blast in which nine CRPF jawans died in an IED strike.
Hidma was linked to the 2021 Tekulguda–Jagargunda ambush, which led to the death of 22 security personnel and injuries to more than 30 others.
In total, he was associated with over 25 major attacks and multiple smaller ambushes, extortion operations, and executions carried out under Maoist ‘jan adalats’. (ANI)