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Top Maoist Hidma killed in crippling blow to LWE
In the past year, security forces across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, neutralised at least 270 Maoists, got at least 1,225 to surrender and arrested 680 including top leaders
Madvi Hidma, 50, his wife Madakam Raje, 44, and four other Maoists were killed by the Andhra Pradesh police after a gunfight early on Tuesday, dealing a crippling blow to the Left Wing Extremist (LWE) movement in the country.
Hidma, CPI (Maoist) central committee member and commander of party’s first battalion and the others were killed after the encounter at Maredumilli forests of Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Tuesday morning, state intelligence chief Mahesh Chandra Laddha announced.
“Along with Hidma, who is a central committee member of the Maoist party, his wife Madakam Raje who is Dandakaranya special zonal committee (DKSZC) member was also neutralised. The others were identified as divisional committee member Lakmal, and platoon party committee members Kamlu and Malla and Deve, who was Hidma’s personal guard.”
In the past year, security forces across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, neutralised at least 270 Maoists, got at least 1,225 to surrender and arrested 680 including top leaders. The senior leaders who were killed include top cadres such as Nambala Keshava Rao (Basavaraju), and central committee members such as Uday aka Gajrala Rao, Katta Ramachandra Reddy and Kadri Satyanarayan Reddy. At least 10 central committee members have also been killed in gunfights this year.
At a recent security meeting, Union home minister Amit Shah had directed security forces to eliminate Hidma by November 30, officials aware of the matter said.
“The Union home minister had set a deadline of March 31, 2026, for the eradication of the Maoist problem from the country. At a security review meeting, he also told the top security officials engaged in anti-Naxal operations to eliminate Hidma before November 30, and he was killed 12 days before this deadline. The way the operations against the Naxals are underway, the Left-wing Extremism is likely to be over ahead of the home minister’s March 2026 deadline,” the official said, asking not to be named.
The Union home ministry recently said that the number of LWE-afflicted districts has fallen to 11, from 18 in April.
Hidma, a native of Purvati village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, was one of the most feared commanders of the CPI (Maoist) and is believed to have led the outfit’s elite PLGA Battalion No. 1. Recruited as a Bal Sangham member in 1991, he rose through the Maoist hierarchy to become a central committee member, shaping some of the deadliest ambushes in south Bastar over nearly two decades, including attacks linked to Tadmetla (2010), Darbha/Jhiram Valley (2013), Burkapal (2017) and Tarrem (2021). Known for his layered security ring, deep knowledge of the Sukma–Bijapur forests and his ability to mobilise armed squads across interstate borders, Hidma remained one of India’s most elusive insurgent leaders until his death in an encounter with security forces.
State intelligence chief Ladha added that on Tuesday, the exchange of fire began at around 6.30 am and ended at 7.10 am. “Over the last few days, the state police have been maintaining continuous surveillance along inter-state borders after receiving credible intelligence that Maoist cadres, under sustained pressure in Chhattisgarh, were planning to shift their base into Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
A couple of days ago, there was a specific input to the state police that senior Maoist leaders had entered Andhra Pradesh to take shelter in Maredumilli area, which is strategically located on Andhra-Telangana-Chhattisgarh borders; and were trying to revive organisational activities.
“Acting swiftly on this intelligence, security forces launched a targeted operation early this morning. During the ensuing exchange of fire, six Maoists were neutralised,” Laddha said.
After the exchange of fire subsided, the police identified that Hidma was among the deceased.
“ The police recovered two AK-47 rifles, a pistol, a revolver, a single-bore weapon, ammunition, kit bags, and other material. The bodies are being shifted for post-mortem as per procedure,” the intelligence chief said.
Laddha said in continuation of the surveillance efforts, police teams simultaneously carried out operations in Vijayawada, parts of NTR district, Krishna district and Kakinada District, leading to the arrest of 31 individuals linked to Maoist networks.
“Of these, nine were security guards of Maoist party central committee member Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji, while the remaining belonged to battalions of the South Bastar Zonal Committee. All were trying to take shelter in Andhra Pradesh to regroup and revive Maoist activities,” Laddha said.
He also noted that some Maoists fled from the encounter location and that finishing operations are underway, with the expectation that they will be apprehended soon.
Hidma carried a reward of ₹1 crore on his head, while his wife carried a reward of ₹50 lakh on her.
Human rights activist and former Hyderabad Central University professor G Haragopal said Hidma’s killing is definitely a big blow to the CPI (Maoist) party and it would cast a shadow on the left-wing movement for a long time.
“The top leadership of the Maoist party is at crossroads. Some of them have surrendered and some of them have been killed. Under these circumstances, it is not proper to come to any conclusion as to what would happen to the movement,” Haragopal told a vernacular television channel.
In recent months, senior cadres of the CPI (Maoist) have surrendered in significant numbers across the Dandakaranya region. In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, veteran leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu/Bhupathi, laid down arms with around 60 Maoists which was a major event drawing attention from state authorities.
In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar area, 78 Maoists—including 43 women and two DKSZC members surrendered in the districts of Sukma, Kanker and Kondagaon, handing over dozens of weapons in the process.
On October 17, another mass surrender in Bastar saw senior Maoist leader Rupesh (alias Satish) and around 209 cadres give up arms in a move officials say reflects deep crisis in the insurgent structure.
