With three multi-agency, multi-force operations launched in the last one year, the Centre has intensified efforts to nab Madvi Hidma, the backbone of Naxal activities responsible for masterminding several attacks against security forces.
Sources said one such operation was executed this month with the help of intelligence agencies and other security forces. This was the second such operation launched centrally this year against Hidma.
All three operations to nab Hidma failed as the Naxal leader managed to flee. After one such operation in January this year it was reported that Hidma was killed in an encounter, but the news was confirmed as false by the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The first operation to corner Hidma was launched in April last year, the second was launched this year in January and third was launched this month.
Sources say major challenges to such operations are local support and lack of accurate intelligence. A senior official associated with these operations told News18 that Hidma has managed to flee every time due to local support.
Sources added that security agencies are working on a plan to decimate the Naxal network by the end of 2024 and capturing Hidma would be a big step closer to the goal. Security forces believe that once Hidma, who handles all Naxal operations, is neutralised, the Naxals won’t be able to carry out attacks. Hidma is the youngest central committee member with a hold on Naxal assets and is aware of warfare tactics. Intelligence inputs also reportedly suggest that he received warfare training abroad. Senior officials told News18 that Hidma had also planted fake intelligence to trap security forces.
Timeline of Hidma’s Involvement
- May 25, 2013: Naxals attack Congress’s Parivartan Yatra in Sukma’s Jhiram Valley, killing 29 people, including the then state president of Congress Nand Kumar Patel and senior party leaders Vidya Charan Shukla and Mahendra Karma
- March 12, 2017: At least 12 CRPF jawans are killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Bheji village
- April 25, 2017: Thirty-two CRPF personnel are killed in an encounter with Naxals in Burkapal-Chintagufa area in Bastar
- May 6, 2017: Maoists ambush and kill 14 soldiers in Kasalpad in Sukma district
- April 9, 2019: Four people, including BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi, are killed in an IED blast near Shyamagiri village in Kuakondablak in Dantewada district
- April 3, 2021: A group of security personnel are ambushed and attacked with machine guns and IEDs by 400 insurgents who surround the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation
Naxals have been facing a massive shrink, which has now reached 77% in Naxalism-affected areas. The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) may plan something big to show its existence, a senior official said.
The CRPF’s elite anti-Naxal unit CoBRA recently decided to move out of Jharkhand as per a new re-deployment plan after the Union government claimed the state had been rid of Left-Wing Extremism.
According to an official communication, six CoBRA teams will move to Telangana and Chhattisgarh as per the latest review done by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters. The communication has termed the transfer of teams as ‘withdrawal’ of forces from Jharkhand.
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