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Madvi Hidma may have been one of India’s most wanted insurgents in the eyes of the state, but in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, Adivasi activists say the death of the CPI (Maoist)’s top commander marks the silencing of a leader they believe embodied their resistance. As the BJP-led Union government pushes its anti-Maoist campaign under Operation Kagar, these activists argue that Hidma will be remembered not as a fugitive, but as a voice they saw as challenging state excesses.
On Tuesday, November 18, Hidma, his wife Raje, and four others were killed in what police describe as an “encounter” in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitharamaraju district, on the Andhra-Odisha border. Addressing the media later in the day, Andhra Pradesh’s Additional Director General (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha said the exchange of fire took place between 6.30 and 7 am in the Maredumilli forest.
Calling him “one of the most wanted and dreaded Maoists,” ADG Mahesh Chandra said Hidma had been the focus of a longstanding security operation. As chief of the CPI (Maoist)’s People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PGLA) battalion, Hidma led one of the insurgency’s most lethal units and was accused in several high-casualty attacks.
Not an encounter, but murder, say activists
Adivasi activists, however, categorically reject the official version. “This was not an encounter or crossfire. Hidma was murdered, plain and simple,” Adivasi activist Soni Sori told TNM, adding that his killing must be read within the larger history of state violence in Bastar.
Human rights activist Degree Prasad Chouhan said that if the security forces wanted to, they could have arrested Hidma, his wife, and the other Maoists, and produced them before a court of law. “But they didn’t. The way Hidma was killed is also often how several innocent Adivasis get killed,” he said. He added that questioning the Maoist movement and its use of violence is legitimate, but so is scrutinising the state's methods. “In a constitutional democracy, one can disagree with Hidma and the Maoist movement at large, but the state’s violent excesses need to be questioned here,” he said.
Soni said Hidma’s decision to take up arms was deeply tied to the struggle for jal, jangal, jameen — the assertion of Adivasi rights over the water, forests, and land. For years, she alleged, these resources have been taken over by government and corporate interests without the consent of the local population. She argued that Hidma was seen by many Adivasi people as fighting for their rights.
Who was Madvi Hidma?
Born in Purvati village in Sukma district, Hidma began as a Bastar Dalam member before rising through the ranks of the Dandakarnya Special Zonal Committee. Over the past two decades, he is alleged to have masterminded major attacks on security forces in Dantewada and Sukma, personally leading more than 30 operations. Various states had announced a reward of Rs 6 crore for Hidma, who was considered an expert in guerrilla attacks.
Hidma was also alleged to have been the mastermind in the 2010 ambush in Dantewada that killed 76 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). It is considered to be one of the deadliest attacks on Indian security forces. He was also suspected of being involved in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack that killed 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, and believed to be behind the 2021 Sukma ambush that left 22 paramilitary personnel dead.
What his death means for the Maoist movement
In a leadership historically dominated by Telugu-speaking ideologues, Hidma was the only Adivasi leader who made it into the upper echelons of the CPI (Maoist). Degree Prasad said representation has long been an issue within the movement.
“After the Union government’s deadline of wiping out Maoism by March 2026 and the surrender of several Maoist leaders, the movement can be said to have weakened. But the question of Adivasi rights, a discussion on their ownership of land and natural resources still remains,” he said.
Soni stressed that Hidma’s rise was not symbolic but earned, according to her. “It wasn’t pity that led to him being made the chief of the PGLA, and the Adivasi struggle will still continue,” she added.
At the time of writing this article, Hidma’s elder brother and other relatives had travelled to Andhra Pradesh to bring home his body for the last rites. “We hope there will not be a repeat of what happened with Maoist leader Basavaraju, whose last rites were performed without the presence or permission of his family. Hidma deserves to be cremated with dignity,” Soni said.
Degree Prasad added that authorities often restrict funerals of Maoist leaders, fearing that large processions might be used to revive support for the movement. “So we have to wait and see what happens in this case. But Hidma will remain a very important voice of the Adivasi community.”