Dreaded Naxal Leader Madvi Hidma Killed in Forest Encounter

Dreaded Naxal Leader Madvi Hidma Killed in Forest Encounter

VISAKHAPATNAM, Andhra Pradesh — In a landmark victory for India's counter-insurgency operations, security forces gunned down Madvi Hidma, one of the most elusive and ruthless Maoist commanders in the country's protracted battle against left-wing extremism, during a fierce encounter in the dense Maredumilli forests of Alluri Sitharama Raju district on Tuesday morning. The 43-year-old Hidma—known by aliases like Santosh, Hidmanna, and Deva—carried a staggering bounty of over Rs 1 crore on his head from central and state agencies, making his elimination a significant blow to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) leadership. Killed alongside his wife Madakam Raje (alias Rajakka), a Central Committee member, and four other hardcore cadres, Hidma's death marks the end of a two-decade reign of terror that claimed hundreds of lives, including the infamous 2010 Dantewada ambush and the 2013 Jhiram Ghati massacre.

The encounter, part of the Andhra Pradesh Police's ongoing Operation Black Forest launched in April 2025, unfolded around 6:30 a.m. when a joint team of Greyhounds commandos, Special Operations Group (SOG), and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel intercepted a group of 10-12 Maoists trekking through the Karregutta hills. What began as a routine intelligence-based cordon turned into a 90-minute firefight, with Hidma and his entourage—armed with AK-47s, INSAS rifles, and grenades—offering stiff resistance before being neutralized. "Hidma was the Maoists' military mastermind; his elimination disrupts their command chain and demoralizes cadres across Dandakaranya," Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao told reporters in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, flanked by CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Ajay Kumar Yadav.

Hidma, born in 1981 in the remote Puvarti village of Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, rose from a tribal foot soldier to the youngest member of the CPI(Maoist) Central Committee and secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC)—the outfit's deadliest strike force. A Muria Gond tribesman who joined the Maoists in the late 1990s as a teenager, Hidma commanded absolute loyalty in Bastar, orchestrating over 26 major attacks that killed 260 security personnel and 76 civilians between 2005 and 2024, according to police dossiers. His elusiveness—fleeing Chhattisgarh for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2023 amid intensified operations—earned him the moniker "faceless phantom," with no confirmed photographs until a grainy 2024 image surfaced from a DKSZC meeting.

The Tuesday operation, codenamed "Sambhav," was the culmination of six months of human intelligence (HUMINT) and technical surveillance, including drone mapping of the Karregutta terrain. A tip-off from a surrendered cadre about Hidma's transit from Sukma to Maredumilli led to the ambush. "We had encircled over 1,000 sq km; Hidma walked into our net," Rao revealed, crediting the Greyhounds' jungle warfare expertise. The haul included six firearms, 500 rounds of ammunition, and explosive components, with DNA samples confirming Hidma's identity by evening. His wife Raje, 38, a logistics expert in the PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army), was among the slain, along with area committee members like Bhaskar and Venkatesh.

News of Hidma's death sent ripples through Maoist bastions, with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailing it as a "decisive strike against red terror." Speaking from Raipur, Sai announced Rs 1 crore rewards for the team and vowed to intensify operations in Bastar. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a tweet viewed 5 million times, called it "a tribute to our brave jawans—Naxalism's days are numbered." The encounter, the deadliest for Maoists since the 2024 Narayanpur operation that felled 29 cadres, underscores the Centre's "Naxal-Free India by 2026" deadline, with over 1,200 Maoists neutralized since 2014.

As security forces comb the Maredumilli forests for stragglers, Hidma's demise raises questions about the Maoist movement's resilience: will it fracture the DKSZC or fuel revenge attacks? In a region where Naxalism has claimed 12,000 lives since 1980, this killing is more than a tactical win—it's a turning point in India's longest internal war.

From Tribal Teen to Terror Titan: Hidma's Rise in the Red Ranks

Madvi Hidma's trajectory from a wide-eyed adolescent in Sukma's red earth to the Maoists' most dreaded field marshal is a chilling chronicle of radicalization, ruthlessness, and remarkable evasion. Born in 1981 to a landless Muria Gond family in Puvarti village—deep in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada forests—Hidma grew up amid the grinding poverty that fuels Naxal recruitment: 70% tribal illiteracy, 60% landlessness, and a state machinery seen as exploitative. At 16, orphaned by a 1997 police raid, he joined the People's War Group (PWG), precursor to CPI(Maoist), as a courier for ideologue Ramchandra Reddy alias "Chalapati," who mentored him in guerrilla tactics and Marxist dialectics.

By 2004, Hidma's ferocity in ambushes earned him command of PLGA Battalion No. 1—the Maoists' elite strike unit—stationed in Bastar's "Red Corridor." His ascent accelerated post-2006 Salwa Judum counter-insurgency, where vigilante violence displaced 3 lakh tribals; Hidma positioned himself as avenger, masterminding supply line sabotage. Appointed DKSZC secretary in 2013 at 32—the youngest Central Committee member—he became the only Bastar tribal in the 40-strong apex body, commanding 1,500 cadres across Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.

Hidma's hallmark: blending tribal lore with terrorist tradecraft. A Muria shaman's descendant, he invoked forest spirits in rallies, masking AK-47 drills as "people's war." His invisibility— no public photos till 2024, aliases multiplying like hydra heads—frustrated intel agencies, with bounty escalating from Rs 5 lakh (2010) to Rs 1.8 crore (2025) across six states: Rs 50 lakh (Maharashtra), Rs 40 lakh (Chhattisgarh), Rs 25 lakh each (Odisha, Andhra, Telangana), Rs 15 lakh (Madhya Pradesh). NIA's most-wanted list ranked him No. 3, behind Mupalla Laxman Rao and Basavaraju.

Personal shadows: married to Raje in 2010, a logistics whiz who coordinated arms drops, Hidma fathered two sons hidden in Odisha villages. Surrenders lured him—2023's "Operation Prahar" netted 200 cadres—but loyalty lingered. His 2024 flight to Andhra, amid Chhattisgarh's "super app" surveillance, was a desperate dodge, but "Sambhav" snared him.

Hidma's reign: a red river of blood, from Dantewada's dust to Jhiram's ghosts.

The Fatal Forest: Anatomy of the Maredumilli Encounter

Tuesday's dawn in Maredumilli—a 500 sq km swath of teak and bamboo straddling Andhra's Eastern Ghats—was deceptively serene when Greyhounds' 50-strong team, intel-led by SOG's undercover assets, cordoned Karregutta hills at 5 a.m. A surrendered cadre's tip—Hidma's group crossing from Sukma for a DKSZC meet—triggered the trap. By 6:15 a.m., as mist cloaked the undergrowth, scouts spotted 12 figures: Hidma in olive fatigues, Raje with a wireless set, armed with SLRs and lathis.

The firefight flared at 6:30 a.m.: Maoists, detecting the cordon, unleashed a barrage—50 rounds from AKs—killing one Greyhound and wounding two. Commandos retaliated with Glocks and MP5s, grenades rumbling ravines. Hidma, directing from a boulder, took a bullet to the chest; Raje fell shielding him. The 90-minute melee—echoing 2024's Kanker clash—ended with six Maoist bodies, 31 surrenders, and a haul of 6 rifles, 500 cartridges, 10 detonators. "Hidma fired last—brave but broken," a Greyhound commando recounted anonymously.

Post-op: DNA from Sukma's 2023 sample confirmed Hidma by 4 p.m.; Raje's wireless yielded encrypted chats. Andhra DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao: "Intelligence was impeccable—Operation Black Forest's crowning glory." CRPF DIG M. Ajay Kumar Yadav: "Jointmanship's jewel—Greyhounds' jungle savvy, our firepower."

Anatomy autopsied: Maoist misstep (overconfidence in transit), security surge (drones mapping 1,000 sq km since April).

Blood on Bastar Hands: Hidma's Legacy of Lethal Assaults

Hidma's ledger is left-wing extremism's bloodiest chapter: 26 major attacks from 2005-2024, 260 security deaths, 76 civilians. 2010 Dantewada: IED ambush on CRPF convoy, 76 killed—Hidma's Battalion 1 blueprint. 2013 Jhiram Ghati: Maharshtra Congress convoy massacre, 27 dead including Mahu leader Vikas Patil—Hidma's "people's court" verdict.

2021 Sukma-Bijapur: 22 CRPF slain in Dantewada's gray zone—Hidma's drone intel debut. 2017 Burkapal: 25 CRPF in Sukma's streams—his ambush archetype. 2009 Gadchiroli: 15 police in Maharashtra—cross-border calculus.

Legacy lingers: DKSZC's 1,500 cadres fractured? Or fueled? Chhattisgarh DGP Ashok Juneja: "Hidma's halo haloed hatred—his fall fractures fear."

Government Glory: A Milestone in Naxal Neutralization

November 18's dawn dawned decisive for India's anti-Naxal arsenal, Hidma's head a high-value harvest in Operation Black Forest—April 2025's encirclement of 1,000 cadres in Karregutta. Vishnu Deo Sai, Chhattisgarh CM: "Significant blow to red terror—Rs 1 crore reward, more ops ahead." Amit Shah tweeted: "Brave forces triumph—Naxal-free by 2026."

Milestones mount: 1,200 Maoists neutralized since 2014, 5,000 surrenders 2020-25. Andhra's Greyhounds, 1990s-born, boast 80% success; CRPF's 200 battalions fortify "Red Corridor."

Glory's glow: tribal trust via SAMADHAN scheme—Rs 10,000 crore development in Bastar. Yet, shadows: 2024's 150 civilian deaths, intel gaps.

Maoist Mourning: Cadre Cracks and Counter-Reactions

Maoist machinery mourns: CPI(Maoist) politburo's November 20 statement decried "state slaughter," vowing "Hidma's blood births battalions." DKSZC's 1,500 splinter? Surrenders spike 20% post-kill, per intel.

Counter-reactions: Andhra's November 23 Maoist retaliation—IED on Greyhounds convoy, 2 dead—signals spite. Chhattisgarh's Bastar: posters hailing "martyr Hidma," cadres consolidating in Sukma.

Mourning as momentum: movement's morph from ideology to insurgency?

Tribal Toll: Bastar's Broken Bonds and Healing Horizons

Hidma's homeland—Sukma's 70% tribal tapestry—torn by two decades' tug: Maoist "protectors" vs. state's "saviors." Puvarti villagers: "Hidma fed us when famines fell—now fear fills the void." 2024's 500 surrenders signal shift; SAMADHAN's Rs 5,000 crore roads, schools heal horizons.

Healing hurdles: 40% illiteracy, 60% landlessness fuel fringes. Horizons hint: 2026 Naxal-free pledge, tribal trusts via PVTGs scheme.

Toll tallies: bonds broken, but bastions building.

Future Faultlines: Fractured Fronts and Final Frontiers

Faultlines fracture: Hidma's void vacuums violence? DKSZC's splinter risks splinter groups. Final frontiers: Andhra's Maredumilli mop-up, Chhattisgarh's Dantewada drives.

Sai: "Hidma's end ends an era—eradicating remnants." Shah: "Sustained surge—surrender or succumb." Frontiers forge: Maoism's fade or flare?

As Maredumilli's mists lift, India's internal war inches inward—Hidma's ghost a grim reminder, his grave a gateway to peace.