Maoist commander Madvi Hidma. | Photo credit: CRPF via PTI
Manish Kunjam, a tribal leader from Bastar and its former MLA, said on Friday (Nov 21, 2025) that the encounter in which top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma was killed in Andhra Pradesh on November 18 was “staged” and “orchestrated” by senior Maoist leader Devji from Telangana. Hidma hailed from Chhattisgarh’s Sukma.
After a wave of surrenders over the past month, including high-ranking senior members of the banned CPI (Maoist), in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, Hidma and Devji were believed to be the remaining top leaders still planning to continue the armed struggle.
Hidma, his wife Madkam Raje and four other Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Maredumilli forest in Alluri Sitaramaraju district of Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to reporters in Sukma district, Mr. Kunjam said Devji was behind the “fake encounter” and used it as an “advantage to build his own image and gain political mileage”. The former MLA now runs the Bastariya Raj Morcha.
“Two days after Hidma’s death, 50 people (Maoists) were arrested in Andhra Pradesh. Will 50 people go there to get arrested? Most of them are local boys and are from Sukma and Bijapur (South Bastar). The whole game was planned by Devji, who is a big Naxalite leader,” said Mr. Kunjam, who took them all on the pretext of Dev Kunjam. he gave up.
While the police claimed that Hidma was involved in the killing of over 260 security personnel and 81 civilians, Mr. Kunjam disputed claims of his specific role, adding that the blame for all those Maoist attacks was now attributed to Hidma and not Devji.
“Look at all the newspapers, Hidma became the mastermind behind all the big incidents. What about the educated people who came from Andhra Pradesh (and were active as Maoists). Were they just idle? They put all the blame on Hidma. They got him killed and arrested the rest,” he said. “Devji is neither arrested nor killed.
Mr Kunjam accused Maoist leaders from Andhra Pradesh of “arming and inciting” Bastar’s tribal youth to join the insurgency.
Published – 21 Nov 2025 20:43 IST
