Overview
- Police state that Madvi Hidma, his wife Raje and others were killed in a November 18 exchange of fire in Maredumilli forest, with bodies returned to family after postmortem.
- The CPI (Maoist) claims Hidma and Raje were detained unarmed in Vijayawada on November 15, tortured, and their bodies moved to stage a fake encounter, and the group has demanded an independent probe.
- Thousands gathered for Hidma’s funeral in Puvarthi under tight security, reflecting his local footprint and the charged atmosphere in Bastar.
- Security officials and reporting describe a smaller, intelligence-led strike that followed years of large multi-agency operations that failed to catch the senior commander.
- Political contention intensified as Congress leader Digvijaya Singh amplified an activist’s custodial killing claim, BJP leaders attacked him, a former Bastar MLA alleged Maoist leader Devji engineered the episode, and Telangana Police announced 37 cadre returns as evidence of organisational weakening.