In the background of the offensive between maoist guerrillas and the armed forces that left over 22 jawans dead, the name of most-wanted Naxal leader Madvi Hidma has emerged as one of the prime reasons behind the security operation in Chhattisgarh.
A contingent of 1,500 troops had launched the search-and-destroy operation along the borders of Bijapur and Sukma on Saturday, after getting inputs about the presence of Hidma.
Hidma heads Battalion 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, one of the most lethally armed and rigorously trained units of Maoists active in the Sukma-Bijapur region in south Bastar, and is a member of the Maoists’ Dandakaranya Special Zonal committee (DKSZ).
He is a member of the tribal community from Puvarti village of Sukma district. Hidma joined the Naxal movement in the 1990s and is now suspected to be around 40 years old.
A String of Naxal Attacks
Suspected to be behind several naxal operations against the Indian armed forces – including the infamous April 2017 attack in Sukma, in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed and another on 11 March in the same region, in which 12 personnel of the central forces were killed – Hidma carries a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head.
The guerrilla leader is also said to be involved in the attack in Jhiram Valley in May 2013, which left 32 people, including top Chhattisgarh Congress leaders, dead.
Other than this, Hidma is also said to have been involved in one of the worst attacks on security personnel in 2010 when 76 CRPF jawans were killed at Tadmetla in Dantewada district, The Hindu reported.
He was also suspected to be involved in an incident in March 2017, when 12 CRPF jawans were ambushed on their way to secure a road-construction party near Sukma’s Bhejji.
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