Top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma killed in major AP encounter

India’s most feared Maoist commander, Madvi Hidma, 51, accused of orchestrating many lethal attacks and long considered the backbone of the Naxal military structure was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh early November 18.

His wife, Madakam Raje, and four others were also gunned down in the pre-dawn operation.

Security officials said Hidma, also known as Santosh, was attempting to flee Chhattisgarh when elite Greyhounds commandos intercepted the group in the Maredumilli forests of Alluri Sitarama Raju district between 6 am and 7 am.

“For weeks, intelligence inputs had flagged increased Maoist movement along the AP–Chhattisgarh–Odisha border,” a senior officer said. “We acted on precise information — today’s success is a result of that.”

Hidma, a Central Committee member and top leader of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, had been the insurgency’s most feared field commander after the surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu. A top officer had recently described Hidma as “the party’s most deadly commander”.

The exchange of fire unfolded after Greyhounds units and local police launched a late-night combing operation following alerts about a large Maoist group moving along the tri-junction forest belt.

“We have confirmed six Maoists neutralized. The operation is still under way,” said Amit Bardar, SP, Alluri Sitarama Raju district, adding that more details will emerge once teams return.

The high-impact strike comes after months of relatively subdued Maoist activity in Andhra Pradesh. The state recorded major encounters earlier in April and June; the June 18 operation resulted in the death of Central Committee member Gajarla Ravi, who was on the NIA’s most wanted list, and Aruna, wife of senior leader Chalapati alias Appa Rao.

The latest killing marks another major blow to the CPI (Maoist), already weakened by a string of top-level eliminations this year. Security forces, backed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s deadline to end insurgency by next March, have intensified operations in Chhattisgarh, where the remnants of the leadership are confined to pockets of Bastar and Dandakaranya.

In neighboring Telangana, dozens of Maoist leaders and cadres have surrendered in recent months, underscoring a rapidly shrinking operational space for the insurgent outfit.