Six Maoists including Commander Hidma killed in encounter in Andhra's ASR

RAIPUR: Maoist commander and Central Committee Member Madvi Hidma, his wife Madkam Raje (DKSZC Member), and four others were killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Tuesday. The four others who were killed in the gun battle have been identified as Lakmal (DCM) Kamlu (PPCM), Malla (PPCM) and Deve (personal guard of Hidma). A native of Purvati village under Jagargunda police station in Sukma district, Hidma also known by aliases Hidmanna, Hidmalu, and Deva, joined as Bal sangham (lowest cadre of the banned outfit) in 1991. He became commander of Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Armys most violent military outfit, and subsequently got elevated from secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) to the rank of Central Committee (CC) Member of the outlawed organisation in 2023. Hidma, for over two decades, remained a formidable tribal commander among Maoist cadres and the affected villages in south Chhattisgarh. He was familiar with the Abujhmad region, around 4,000 sq km of forested terrain that had served as a safe haven to armed warfare units of Maoists and their top leaderships. He orchestrated numerous brutal armed attacks on forces, targeted killings, and large-scale ambushes, posing an arduous threat to peace and stability across the Dandakaranya region in south Chhattisgarh including the border areas of adjoining states. Intelligence officials in the state cited his collusion in almost every major Maoist attack. Despite repeated appeals by the government and senior police officers to surrender and return to mainstream life, Hidma remained elusive and seen committed to the ideology of CPI (Maoist). Last week, at the behest of the Chhattisgarh home minister Vijay Sharma, the mother of Hidma Punji Madvi in Sukma earnestly asked him through video message to lay down arms and return home. But that didn't yield any result. The end of Hidmas chapter is a decisive breakthrough to wipe out the Maoist outfit. The few Naxal cadres and their depleted leadership now have no option except to shun violence and join the social mainstream, said Sundarraj Pattlingam, Bastar Range IGP. The ongoing offensive by forces against the left-wing extremists forced the top Maoists leaders to constantly change their locations from Chhattisgarh to adjoining states. Under sustained and coordinated security pressure across Bastar region, Hidma and his close group were forced to abandon their traditional safe hideouts. If reliable sources are to be believed, they had been taking shelter in the Karegutta hills and adjoining ChhattisgarhTelangana interstate border for the last few months, continuously fleeing from one location to another after encountering significant setbacks in Dandakaranya area. Raje too held key positions beginning as a Bal Sangam member (199495) and ultimately becoming Mobile Political School (MOPOS) in-charge and Battalion Party Committee member.