Top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma killed in encounter in Andhra Pradesh

Top Naxalite commander Madvi Hidma who had masterminded several attacks over the last two decades was killed in an encounter in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday a breakthrough Chhattisgarh Police described as the last nail in the coffin of the insurgencySecurity forces gunned down Hidma his wife Raje and four other Naxalites in the Maredumilli forest in Alluri Sitaramaraju district of the neighbouring state this morning a senior police officer in Bastar confirmedHidmas elimination is the last nail in the coffin of severelyweakened insurgency in the Bastar region of ChhattisgarhWe have received information that Maoist leader Hidma is among the cadres killed on the Andhra PradeshChhattisgarh border It is a very important development Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma told reporters in RaipurA native of Puvarti village in Sukma district Hidmas age and appearance remained mysterious until his photograph surfaced earlier this yearHe headed the Maoists Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army PLGA Battalion No 1 the strongest military formation of the outfit in Dandakaranya which spans parts of Andhra Pradesh Odisha Telangana and Maharashtra apart from Bastar for several years officials saidHe was elevated to the Maoists Central Committee last yearHidma joined the banned organisation in the late 1990s as a groundlevel organiser He came on the radar of security agencies after the Tadmetla attack in which 76 security personnel were killed in 2010 He had then assisted another top Maoist commander Papa Rao in executing the strikeSince then his name surfaced repeatedly after every major ambush on security forces in BastarHe had served as a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee DKSZC which orchestrated several deadly attacks in south BastarExpert in guerrilla warfare Hidma was known to carry an AK47 rifle while members of his huge unit moved with sophisticated weapons His fourlayered security ring inside the forests reportedly made him untraceable for yearsHowever intensified antiNaxal operations in the last two years dented and weakened Hidmas security cover forcing him to flee deeper into the forests along the ChhattisgarhTelangana and ChhattisgarhAndhra Pradesh borders to seek shelter officials saidSustained operations by security forces in the Maoist core areas had mounted significant pressure on senior leaders including HidmaAmong the major attacks he was involved in was the 2013 Jhiram Valley attack in Darbha Bastar which wiped out senior Congress leadership in Chhattisgarh He is also accused of the 2017 Burkapal ambush that left 24 CRPF personnel deadHis wife Raje was also active in the same battalion and allegedly involved in almost every major Maoist strikeHidma had acquired a heroic image among his cadres and his elimination is a major step towards eliminating Maoism from the Bastar region a Chhattisgarh Police officer saidWith this encounter in Andhra Pradesh nine Central Committee members of the Maoists have been eliminated by security forces in Chhattisgarh Jharkhand and Andhra PradeshThe top cadres killed in Chhattisgarh include Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju 70 the general secretary and topmost operative of the outlawed Communist Party of India Maoist and five central committee membersWhile two Central committee members were killed in Jharkhand as many others were in Andhra Pradesh this year police saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever