Hidma, top Naxal behind 26 attacks, killed in encounter

In a major breakthrough, the security forces on Tuesday killed dreaded Naxal leader Madvi Hidma in an encounter in Alluri Sitarama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh.

According to the state police, both Hidma and his wife Raje were killed in the encounter, which had begun early Tuesday morning.

Sources said the police got a tip-off regarding Hidma’s entry into Andhra Pradesh, which led to the encounter.

The bodies of six militants, including those of Hidma and his wife, had been recovered till the time of filing of this report.

The sources said Hidma was killed by the security forces 12 days before the November 30 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to eliminate the most-wanted Naxalite.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources said while Shah had set a deadline of March 31, 2026, for the eradication of Naxalism from the country, at a recent security review meeting, he had also told top security officials engaged in anti-Naxal operations to eliminate Hidma before November 30.

The security forces killed the 44-year-old Naxal leader in the dense Pullagandi forests located at the tri-junction of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

Briefing the media, Andhra Pradesh Intelligence chief Mahesh Chandra said, “For the past few days, we had a specific intelligence that a few Maoist leaders were entering Andhra Pradesh and were planning to revive their movement. Today morning, an exchange of fire took place between Maoists and the security forces in which six Maoists’ bodies have been recovered.

So far, as per the identification, the body of Hidma, a central committee member, first battalion commandant and one of the most wanted and dreaded Maoists, has been recovered. His wife Raje’s body has also been recovered, along with the bodies of four of his gunmen. We have also recovered a few arms and ammunitions, including two AK 47s, a pistol, a revolver and a single bore weapon.

Born in Sukma in 1981, Hidma was the commander of a battalion of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army and a member of the Maoist central committee.

He was believed to be the only tribal member from Bastar to be part of this top leadership group.

His direct involvement was found in more than 26 major Naxal attacks, making him one of India’s most feared insurgent leaders.

Among the 26 Maoist attacks that Hidma is known to have been a part of are the 2010 Dantewada massacre, in which 76 paramilitary personnel were killed, and the 2013 Jhiram Ghati ambush that left 27 people, including Chhattisgarh’s top Congress leaders, dead.

He is learnt to have masterminded the 2021 Sukma-Bijapur ambush that claimed the lives of 22 security personnel. He carried a bounty of over Rs 50 lakh, the sources said.

Hidma’s killing and last month’s surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu (70), a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Politburo, on October 14 in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, has come as a major setback for the central committee of the party, which is now left with only eight key members.