Madvi Hidma, the most-wanted Maoist commander in the protracted battle against the insurgents, was gunned down by the Andhra Pradesh police in the Maredumalli Mandal area of the state’s Alluri Sitharama Raju district on the morning of November 18. Five other Maoists, including two women, were killed in the security operation.

Hidma, a central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was the only Chhattisgarhi to have climbed up the ranks to hold his high position in the Maoist hierarchy. He carried a reward of Rs 1.8 crore collectively.

Born in 1981 in a Muriya tribe family in Puvarti village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, Hidma dropped out of school in the 1990s to join the Maoists early. His rise came through a combination of bravado and intelligence.

Puvarti is a

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