Madvi Hidma, one of India’s most wanted and elusive Maoist commanders who was behind 26 deadly attacks on security forces and civilians, was killed in an encounter with the forces in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday morning.

Sources said the 51-year-old Hidma alias Santosh — alleged architect of the Dantewada CRPF massacre and the Darbha Valley bloodbath of Congress leaders — was killed with his wife Madakam Raje alias Rajakka and four other Maoists.

The group was fleeing from Chhattisgarh and had entered Andhra when the forces surrounded it inside the Maredumilli forest in Alluri Sitarama Raju district.

“Acting on intelligence indicating the movement of a large group of Maoists along the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, the anti-Naxal Greyhounds (a police unit) and the local Andhra Pradesh police started a combing operation late on Monday night,” a security official attached to the Union home ministry said.

“The encounter took place between 6am and 7am. Six Maoists, including Hidma and his wife, were killed. Combing operations are continuing inside the forest.”

Hidma is believed to have masterminded the 2010 attack on the CRPF in Dantewada that killed 76 personnel, and the 2013 ambush in Jhiram Ghati, Darbha Valley, that claimed the lives of 27 people, including senior Congress leaders.

He also played a key role in the 2021 Sukma-Bijapur ambush in which 22 security personnel were killed.

Hidma, a local tribal, was born in the forest village of Purvati, located near the border of the Bijapur and Sukma districts of Chhattisgarh.

Hidma joined the rebels after passing his Class X exams and became a master strategist of military operations and guerrilla warfare.

He became a central committee member and the leader of the Dandakaranya special zonal committee, as well as the commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army’s Battalion No. 1, the banned CPI Maoist’s main strike force.

The collective bounty on him announced by multiple states came to more than₹1 crore.

“Hidma was the youngest member of the central committee and the only tribal from the Bastar region to be inducted into the committee, the party’s main think tank and decision-making body,” a CRPF officer said.

“He was personally overseeing the training of the ground workers in Chhattisgarh. He had plotted all the major attacks on the security forces since 2010.”

The officer described Hidma as “ruthless” and said he ran “a network of dedicated informers” in Chhattisgarh while coordinating with the local commanders.

Hidma’s death is a crucial setback for the already declining Maoist movement in the country.

As part of a massive anti-Maoist operation in Chhattisgarh, launched in September-October last year, the security forces have made repeated inroads into rebel strongholds since January, killing over 300 Maoists, including key leaders.

Members of the Maoists’ top leadership killed this year include former general secretary Basvaraj and central committee members Katta Ramachandra Reddy, Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, Gajarla Ravi, Chalpathi, Sahdev Soren, Balkrishna and Narasimha.

A large number of Maoists have surrendered over the past few months amid the continuing counter-insurgency operations.

Union home minister Amit Shah has declared March 31, 2026, as the deadline for eradicating Maoism fromthe country.