Team News Riveting
Raipur, November 18
Madvi Hidma, the dreaded Maoists commander, was killed in an encounter with the security personnel on Tuesday morning at the tri-junction of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
The breakthrough came 12 days before the November 30 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to eliminate the most wanted Maoist. According to senior officials, Shah had told the top security officials engaged in anti-Maoist operations to eliminate Hidma before November 30. He was killed 12 days before this deadline.
Security forces eliminated the 44-year-old Maoist leader in the dense Pullagandi forests located at the tri-junction of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
“Today morning, an exchange of fire (EOF) occurred between Maoists and the Police party in the Maredumilli Mandal area. In this encounter, Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, South Bastar Battalion (CCM member) has been eliminated,” the Andhra Pradesh police said. Six Maoists were neutralised in the encounter. For the past few weeks, intelligence inputs have specifically indicated the movement of Maoists near the AP–Chhattisgarh–Odisha border areas.
The other Maoists killed in the encounter included Hidma’s wife and Special Zonal Committee member Madagam Raje, DCM Lakmal, PCMs Kamlu and Malla, and Hidma’s guard Deve. Besides two AK-47, one revolver and one pistol were recovered from the spot.
Born in Sukma in 1981, Hidma was the commander of a battalion of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and a member of the Maoist Central Committee. He was believed to be the only tribal member from Bastar to secure a position in the top hierarchy of the outlawed group.
Officials said he was directly involved in more than 26 major Maoist attacks, making him one of India’s most feared insurgent leaders. He was carrying a reward of over Rs 1 crore on his head.
Madvi Hidma—who was also known by several aliases such as Hidmanna, Hidmaloo and Deva—was one of the most notorious Maoist commanders active in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A resident of Purvati village in Jagargunda police station area of Sukma district, Hidma was recruited as Bal Sangham cadre in 1991. His brutal and inhuman acts made him the Central Committee and he became the commander of PLGA’s Battalion No-01, which is considered to be the most violent unit of the entire CPI-Maoist organization.
For several decades, he carried out barbaric attacks, killings and large-scale ambushes, which continued to pose a serious threat to the peace and stability of the Dandakaranya region.
Despite repeated appeals by the government and senior police officers to surrender and return to the mainstream, Hidma did not veer from the path of violence and extremism. His insistence on not laying down his arms took a heavy toll on him—many of his close associates were killed or captured, and even his wife Madkam Raje @rajkka was further ensnared in the Maoist network.
Dandakarnya Special Zonal Committee member Raje also played several important roles in the banned CPI-Maoist organization. She was a member of Bal Sangathan in 1994–95, followed by ACM Jagargunda (2002–03), Kistaram ACM (2006–07), LOS Commander in Palachal (2008), teacher of Battalion Mobile Political School (2009), and eventually as MOPOS in-charge and BNPC Battalion Party Committee member.
Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj P said that due to continuous and coordinated security pressure in Bastar, Madhvi Hidma, Raje and his close group were forced to leave their safe havens. Reliable sources had confirmed that they were hiding around the Kare Gutta hills and the Chhattisgarh–Telangana interstate border for the past several months and were moving from one place to another after their successive defeats in Dandakaranya. His run finally came to an end on 18 November 2025 in the Andhra–Chhattisgarh border region of Alluri Sitaramaraju district.
His death is one of the most decisive successes in the history of the Maoist resistance campaign—not just for Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but for the entire nation. This is a huge blow to the Maoist movement, which has lost its most notorious, anti-people, anti-tribal, anti-development and inhumane commander.
