Six Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel here in Alluri Sitaramaraju district on Tuesday, said a police official.
Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, responsible for leading at least 26 armed attacks against security forces and civilians, has been gunned down in the encounter.
Born in 1981 in Sukma, then in Madhya Pradesh, Hidma rose to lead a battalion of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army and became the youngest member of the Central Committee, the CPI Maoist's top decision-making body. He was the only tribal member from the Bastar region on the central committee.
Hidma carried a bounty of Rs 50 lakh. His wife, Raje alias Rajakka, is also learnt to have been killed in the encounter.
The Maoist leader was also the prime suspect in an attack where 22 security personnel were killed in April 2021 in Chhattisgarh.
Alluri Sitaramaraju district superintendent of police (SP) Amit Bardar said the encounter was carried out between 6.30 am and 7 am in the forested area of Maredumilli mandal.
"Yes, six Maoists were killed in an encounter in Alluri district today (Tuesday)," Bardar told PTI.
According to the SP, it was a joint operation carried out by various wings of the police department.
"The Union home minister had set a deadline of March 31, 2026, for the eradication of the Maoist problem from the country. At a security review meeting, Shah also told the top security officials engaged in anti-Naxal operations to eliminate Hidma before November 30, and he was killed 12 days before this deadline," a source privy to the home minister's diktat.
Sources also said that the way the operations against the Naxals are underway, the Left-wing extremism is likely to be over ahead of the home minister's March deadline.