Madvi Hidma, one of the most wanted Maoist leaders, is being seen as the mastermind behind the Naxal attack on security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on April 3, according to news reports. The attack claimed the lives of 22 security personnel.
New CPI (Maoist) leader Basava Raju executed the Sukma attack, according to a report by News18.
Out of the 22 fatalities in the attack, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) lost eight men, including seven CoBRA commandos, while one jawan is from the Bastariya battalion, eight from the DRG and five from the Special Task Force.
Officials had said on April 4 that a CRPF inspector was still missing. Thirty-one security personnel were also injured in the ambush by naxals.
The security personnel were ambushed by naxals when they were out on a combing operation in a forest along the border of the Bijapur and Sukma districts of the state.
According to a PTI report, this was the worst Naxal attack in four years that resulted from an ambush by some 400 insurgents who surrounded the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation and rained on them machine gun fire as well as IEDs for several hours.
CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh had reportedly acknowledged that his personnel were "surprised and ambushed" during the attack that lasted several hours. Other officials in the know of the developments were cited by news agency PTI as saying that the forces may have been waylaid by the naxals.
On April 5, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel laid a wreath at the coffins of security personnel who lost their lives in the Naxal attack.
A day earlier, Shah vowed a befitting response to the Naxals and said that the battle against the extremists will be won through joint efforts of the central and state governments.
The Maoist movement dates back to 1967 when armed peasants revolted in Naxalbari and later the 'red' cadres of the CPI (Maoist) led the agitation claiming legitimate socio-economic rights for tribal and locals.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the details.
Who is Madvi Hidma?
Hidma (40), being seen as the person behind the attack, is tribal, according to news reports. He is known for his lethal ambushes and leads a pack of 180-250 Maoist fighters.
He heads the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Battalion No. 1 and is reportedly the youngest member of the CPI (Maoists) supreme 21-member ‘central committee.’ There is a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head, reports suggest.
(With inputs from PTI)
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