RAIPUR: Maoist commander and Central Committee Member Madvi Hidma, his wife Madkam Raje (DKSZC Member), and four others were killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Tuesday.

The four others who were killed in the gun battle have been identified as Lakmal (DCM) Kamlu (PPCM), Malla (PPCM) and Deve (personal guard of Hidma).

A native of Purvati village under Jagargunda police station in Sukma district, Hidma also known by aliases Hidmanna, Hidmalu, and Deva, joined as Bal sangham (lowest cadre of the banned outfit) in 1991. He became commander of Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army’s most violent military outfit, and subsequently got elevated from secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) to the rank of Central Committee (CC) Member of the outlawed organisation in 2023.

Hidma, for over two decades, remained a formidable tribal commander among Maoist cadres and the affected villages in south Chhattisgarh.

He was familiar with the Abujhmad region, around 4,000 sq km of forested terrain that had served as a safe haven to armed warfare units of Maoists and their top leaderships.

He orchestrated numerous brutal armed attacks on forces, targeted killings, and large-scale ambushes, posing an arduous threat to peace and stability across the Dandakaranya region in south Chhattisgarh including the border areas of adjoining states.