Seven more Maoists killed in Maredumilli forests; police ask surviving cadres to surrender

Vijayawada: Stepping up anti-Maoists operations, security forces killed seven more cadres in the Maredumilli forest region of Andhra Pradesh Agency on Wednesday.

Briefing the media in Vijayawada, AP Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha said the encounter occurred in the early hours of Wednesday.

ADGP Ladda said initial reports suggest that some top leaders, including Deviji, may have been among those killed

However, he added that complete details are still being ascertained.

He asked the surviving Maoists to surrender, as

Top leaders Hidma killed :

He said due to continuous operations in Chhattisgarh and Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) region and other states, Maoists are trying to shift their hideouts to cities and urban areas.

"We have strengthened surveillance and are closely tracking their movements. As part of the operation launched on November 7, an encounter took place on the morning of November 18 in the Alluri Seetharamaraju district. Central Committee member Madivi Hidma and five other Maoists died during an exchange of fire,” he said.

Among the 6 were Madvi Hidma , the Central committee member and a most wanted maoist and his wife Raje along with 4 others. Police sources indicate that many of the arrested cadres had fled from Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur and West Bastar districts following sustained security pressure and the elimination of Hidma.

50 arrested on Tuesday :

The Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) and police personnel arrested 50 Maoists across NTR, Krishna, Eluru, Kakinada, and Konaseema districts on Tuesday. Those detained include three Special Zonal Committee members, 23 platoon members, five Divisional Committee members, and 19 Area Committee members. “All arrests were made without any harm to the public. We also seized a significant quantity of weapons and explosives,” he noted.

The arrests were made during search operations on the Maoist hideouts in the districts of Krishna, Eluru, NTR, Kakinada, and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema. "Some Maoists escaped after Tuesday’s encounter in Maredumilli. Teams have been deployed to track them down as well,” ADG Ladda said.

Who is Hidma?

Madvi Hidma was linked to multiple major Naxal attacks, mostly in Chhattisgarh, with deadly precision and planning. His operational team was responsible for some of the deadliest ambushes against security forces and political figures in India over the last two decades.

Some Major attacks conducted by his team were :

• 6 April 2010 -- Dantewada massacre (Tadmetla attack) , Dantewada,

Chhattisgarh where 76 CRPF personnel were killed

• 25 May 2013 -- Jhiram Ghati (Darbha Valley) massacre , Bastar, Chhattisgarh

where 27 were killed, including senior Congress leaders

• 3 April 2017 -- Sukma ambush , Sukma, Chhattisgarh , where 25 CRPF

personnel were killed

• 24 April 2017 -- Sukma road construction ambush , Sukma, Chhattisgarh , 12

CRPF personnel were killed.

• 3 April 2021 -- Sukma-Bijapur encounter (Tarrem) , Bijapur , chattisgarh , 22

security personnel were killed, arms looted.

• 18 Nov 2025 – Maredumilli area operation/encounter , Alluri Sitharamaraju

district, Andhra Pradesh (near Chhattisgarh border) , Hidma killed, along with 5 others during EOF .

The above incidents were only a few to name and there are reportedly more than 25 offences linked to the Hidma’s team , most of whom were apprehended during the joint operation in Krishna District and Eluru Districts. Hidma has a cumulative Bounty of Rs 1 Crore by the time of his death.

Senior leaders arrested:

The operation resulted in the arrest of three senior Special Zonal Committee Members (SZCM)—the highest tier of Maoist leadership captured in the State in recent years. These include Sode Lachu @ Gopal of the South Bastar DVC, Podiyam Rengu N/o Palamadgu, Polampalli PS, Sukma District, Chhattisgarh from the BNPC Battalion Headquarters Company, and Udde Raghu, a senior SZCM from Mukkaram village under Farsegarh PS, Bijapur district, functioning as a key organiser of the BNPC Battalion Headquarters Company.

Together, these SZCM cadres were responsible for strategic planning, battalion-level supervision, cross-border coordination, and the movement of combat platoons between Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

"Their presence inside AP indicates a deliberate attempt by the Maoist leadership to reconstitute command structures after sustained pressure and major leadership losses in Chhattisgarh. The capture of all three SZCM operatives in one coordinated operation marks a rare and decisive collapse of the top command layer of the CPI (Maoist) in the Dandakaranya region," said Laddha.

The operation also resulted in the apprehension of a high-value cluster of Divisional Committee Members (DVCMs)—the most crucial operational tier in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy responsible for directing armed actions, recruitment, logistics, supply chains, IED deployment and cross-border cadre movement.