The Fall of Madvi Hidma: How India's Most Feared Maoist Commander's Reign of Terror Ended in Bastar

Top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh this morning.

For over two decades, the name Madvi Hidma echoed through Bastar's forests with dread. A phantom to security forces, a legendary figure among Maoists, and the architect behind India's deadliest Naxal attacks, Hidma embodied a mixture of tactical brilliance, ruthless brutality, and almost mythical evasiveness.

That chapter has now concluded. Hidma, the most feared guerrilla commander of the CPI (Maoist), was killed during an encounter in the dense Maredmilli forests along the Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border on Tuesday morning. His wife Rajakka and four close fighters also perished in the operation, ending an era of ambushes that deeply scarred India's internal security landscape.

To comprehend the significance of this development, one must look back to Tadmetla in 2010, where 76 CRPF personnel lost their lives in an ambush so meticulously planned that senior officers still refer to it as "the day the jungle swallowed a battalion."

This attack marked Hidma's emergence on the national stage as a lean, relatively unknown company commander who orchestrated an assault that astonished even veteran anti-Naxal strategists. A decade later, investigations confirmed what insiders already knew: the Tadmetla massacre wasn't merely an attack but the coronation of a new Maoist warlord. And it was just the beginning.

The 2013 Jhiram Valley attack, perhaps the most shocking political assassination in Chhattisgarh's history, further solidified Hidma's rising influence. During that blood-soaked afternoon, several of Chhattisgarh's prominent Congress leaders, including Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel, were killed in a brutal operation executed with military precision.

Many believe the strategic planning carried Hidma's trademark. The flawless execution of that ambush elevated him from the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee to the Maoist Central Committee, a remarkable achievement for someone not from Telangana, the party's traditional power center.

Subsequently, Hidma's battalion became the spearhead of Maoist operations across South Bastar in Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada and surrounding regions. His fighters moved like ghosts; his ambushes were expertly crafted traps; his mastery of jungle warfare remained unparalleled.

In 2017, his ruthlessness resurfaced in the Burkapal attack, claiming the lives of 25 CRPF jawans. In the Tekulguda ambush at Minpa, 21 soldiers were martyred, reaffirming what security forces had long understood: when blood was spilled in Bastar, Hidma's influence was rarely absent.

Yet behind the fearsome reputation was a man whose life was deeply intertwined with these forests. Recruited at age 16 from Purvati village under Jagargunda police station, Hidma joined the Maoist movement through the children's wing, "Bal Sangam."

According to former DVCM Badarna, who recruited him, Hidma was nimble, intelligent, and absorbed guerrilla training with remarkable aptitude. He learned revolutionary songs, traditional instruments, first aid, herbal medicine preparation, and could read the jungle like sacred text. Already married before joining the outfit, he later married again, with his second wife, Rajakka, often accompanying him during operations.

Contrary to various rumors, Hidma did not speak fluent English; he communicated in Gondi, Halbi, Hindi, Telugu, and some Marathi from his time in Gadchiroli.

What he lacked in formal education, he compensated with technological adaptability. Former associates reported he regularly carried a tablet, mobile phone, and occasionally a camera or laptop. He recorded every ambush, documenting the position of each fighter, every bullet fired, and every mistake made, transforming the Maoist camp into a tactical classroom.

Videos recovered after encounters confirmed that Battalion No. 1, under Hidma's command, analyzed each operation with the thoroughness of a military academy evaluating war exercises.

Security forces attempted to capture him at least six times. More than 100 soldiers sacrificed their lives in these efforts. Each time, Hidma vanished into the jungle's labyrinth. Protected by four to five layers of armed security forming a mobile fortress around him, he remained virtually untraceable.

Even when police received specific intelligence, as in the Dantewada market of Kistaram, Hidma escaped undetected. The only photograph in police records dated back over 25 years, showing a thin, almost fragile young man with a faint mustache, bearing little resemblance to the hardened commander he had become.

His status in the underground world approached legendary proportions. Former cadres indicated he was harsh toward security forces but treated his fighters with respect, unlike many Maoist leaders. He shared laughter with them, prepared meals for them, participated in rituals alongside them, while still leading them into India's deadliest ambushes.

In the ideological hierarchy of Dandakaranya, he was the only non-Telangana tribal to ascend to the Central Committee, becoming a symbolic representation of "Bastar's rebellion," as described in Maoist literature.

Despite the folklore surrounding him, Hidma remained a tragic figure. A tribal youth who could have lived an ordinary life instead became the mastermind behind numerous massacres.

On Tuesday morning, that journey ended. Deep within the Maredmilli forest, a joint operation cornered Hidma's group. The firefight was brief but decisive. When the smoke dissipated, India's most-wanted Maoist commander lay dead. His wife and four associates perished alongside him. With them died the final prominent symbol of a movement steadily weakening under persistent pressure from security forces.

Villagers in Bastar report the jungle feels different today, more peaceful, as if a long-standing shadow has lifted. Officers who dedicated their careers to pursuing him describe the moment as "the closing of the bloodiest chapter in Bastar's modern history."

For years, rumors of Hidma's death had circulated, only for him to resurface with another devastating attack. This time, confirmation comes from ground evidence – photographs, recoveries, and bodies that leave no room for doubt.

Hidma's demise doesn't erase the suffering he inflicted on Tadmetla's 76 martyrs, Jhiram's political casualties, Burkapal's widows, or Minpa's grieving families. However, it does mark the beginning of a new phase in Bastar. As one senior officer noted, "The ghost of Bastar has finally been silenced."

In the jungles where he once commanded, the silence following the gunfire feels like history turning a page. The fear has dissipated. The legend has ended. And for the first time in many years, Bastar breathes without his looming presence.