Madvi Hidma, one of the most prominent surviving Maoist leaders, was among the six Maoists killed in an early Tuesday encounter with the anti-Naxal Greyhounds and local police in Andhra Pradesh’s Maredumilli forest region.
Police have not yet officially confirmed the identities of the dead, citing the ongoing combing operations and the sensitive security situation inside the dense Maredumilli forest zone. The number of injured Maoists remains unknown, and officials said no police personnel were harmed in the encounter.
According to police sources, the bodies were recovered after the exchange of fire, which took place between 6:30 am and 7 am in the forested area of Maredumilli mandal in the Alluri Sitarama Raju district.
Hidma,also known as Deva or Hidmalu, who was arguably the last surviving top Maoist leader in the country, had been one of India’s most wanted insurgents and headed the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army Battalion No. 1, considered the most lethal strike unit of the CPI (Maoist).
He was born in 1981 in Puvarti village in Sukma, now part of Chhattisgarh and studied up to Class 10 before joining the Maoist ranks.
According to accounts, his initial interest in the movement was sparked when he saw Maoist cadres constructing a pond in his village, an act that contrasted sharply with the chronic underdevelopment of the Bastar region, which had long remained neglected and became fertile ground for Maoist mobilisation in the early 2000s.
Ramesh Pudiyami, alias Badaranna, a surrendered Maoist who is widely regarded as Hidma’s first mentor, recalled meeting the young recruit who expressed a strong desire to join the insurgency.
Impressed by his eagerness, Badaranna agreed to take him in. Hidma worked under him for nearly two years before being entrusted with the leadership of a platoon, marking the beginning of his rise through the Maoist ranks.
Hidma carried a bounty of ₹50 lakh and was the only Bastar tribal member in the Maoist Central Committee.
A Central Committee member and a key leader of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, Hidma was wanted in 26 major cases and was believed to have masterminded some of the deadliest Maoist attacks in the past 15 years.
Among them were the 2010 Dantewada massacre, in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed; the 2013 Jeeram Ghati attack, which left 27 people dead, including senior Congress leaders; and the 2021 Sukma–Bijapur ambush, where 22 security personnel lost their lives.
His record also stretches back to earlier strikes such as the 2007 attack on CRPF personnel in Urpalmet, the 2017 killing of 27 CRPF jawans in Sukma, and the April 4, 2021 ambush in Tarem, Bijapur, in which 23 security personnel were killed.
Security forces have intensified operations across the tri-state border region of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, suspecting that more senior Maoist leaders may be trapped in the area following the encounter.
This marks the second major operation against Maoists in the ASR district within six months; on 7 May, two Maoists were killed in a gunfight in the Y. Ramavaram forest region. Tuesday’s encounter also comes after a period of reduced Maoist activity in Andhra Pradesh.
On 18 June, Gajarla Ravi, a Central Committee member, and Aruna, the wife of senior Maoist leader Chalapati alias Appa Rao, were gunned down by security forces.
The exchange of fire also follows the surrender of former Maoist spokesperson and Central Committee member Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Abhay, along with 60 others, in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli in October. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reiterated his commitment to ending Maoist activities across the country by March 2026.
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