Top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma gunned down in Andhra Pradesh

In a major crackdown today, one of India’s most feared Maoist commanders, Madvi Hidma, was killed along with his wife and four other maoists in a fierce gunbattle today. The encounter took place deep inside Maredumilli forest in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitharamaraju district, right at the tri-junction of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Andhra Pradesh Police clashed with the Maoists between 6 and 7 am, leaving six maoists dead. This is the biggest success in years against the shrinking Maoist movement.

Madvi Hidma, born in 1981 in Chhatisgarh's Sukma, was no ordinary rebel. He led the deadly Battalion No. 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and was the youngest and only tribal member from Bastar in the CPI (Maoist) Central Committee. A Rs 50-lakh bounty hung over his head for masterminding some of the bloodiest attacks in Indian history: the 2010 Dantewada massacre that killed 76 CRPF jawans, the 2013 Jhiram Valley maoist attack where there has been 33 casualties including prominent Congress leaders such as then state president Nand Kumar Patel, Vidya Charan Shukla, and Mahendra Karma and the 2021 Sukma-Bijapur attack where 22 jawans killed.

Today, his wife Raje alias Rajakka died beside him in the same firefight.The killing comes at a time when Maoists are already on the back foot with hundreds surrendering and hideouts being destroyed. Hidma’s death will break the backbone of maoist-naxalist rebel operations in the entire Bastar region. Massive combing operations continue in the forest as forces hunt for any remaining fighters. For the families of countless soldiers and civilians who died in several attacks headed by Hidma, today brings a sense of justice, while villagers in red corridor areas quietly hope for lasting peace.