Madvi Hidma
Credit: Special Arrangement
Hyderabad: Six Maoists, including a top leader, Madvi Hidma, were killed in a fierce encounter that broke out between the police and Maoists at Mareduumilli in Alluri Sitaram Raju district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
The exchange of fire begun around 6 am and still continuing, sources in the Andhra Pradesh police said.
The police are continuing their combing operation in the area.
The encounter is part of ongoing efforts by the police to curb Maoist activities in the tri-State border region of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
DGP Harish Kumar Gupta is overseeing the operation.
An elusive figure
Madvi Hidma, who was one of the most prominent and elusive figures within the CPI (Maoist), was known for his strategic acumen in guerrilla warfare and his leadership role in several high-profile attacks against security forces.
Born around 1981 in Purvati village in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, Hidma hailed from the Muriya tribal community.
He reportedly joined the Maoist movement in the 1990s at a young age after dropping out of school. His early involvement enabled him to rise rapidly through the organisation's ranks. Hidma commanded Battalion 1 of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, the armed wing of the CPI (Maoist). This battalion is considered one of the most lethal and rigorously trained units within the Maoist organisation, operating primarily across Sukma, Dantewada, and Bijapur regions of Chhattisgarh.
Security forces had almost cornered him in January, but he managed to slip away during an operation that resulted in the deaths of around 18 Naxalites. He was targeted in the Pujari-Kanker area in south Bastar during an encounter that killed 18 Naxals on January 16.