Police arrest key Maoist leader Hidma

Amaravati: Maoist top leader Hidma (Kunjum Hidma alias Mohan) has been arrested in Odisha using the District Voluntary Force, police said. The Indian government launched Operation Kagar as part of its drive to eliminate Maoists from the country by the end of March 2026. It is eliminating Maoists who claim to be top leaders one after another. Recently, more than 30 Maoists, including top Maoist leader Basavaraj, lost their lives in firing by security forces. The Maoists, shaken by the violence, tried to increase pressure on the government through civil rights leaders to demand a ceasefire. However, the Center, unyielding to such pressure, intensified its efforts to root out the Maoists. There were rumors that some top Maoist leaders were informing the police that they were ready to surrender. It is against this backdrop that the police arrested Hidma. Police said that Hidma was arrested in a forest area near Petguda village under Boipariguda police station limits in Koraput district of Odisha. An AK-47 rifle, 35 rounds of ammunition, 117 detonators (electric and non-electric), gunpowder, radios, knives, Maoist literature and paraphernalia were seized from him, they said.
“On Wednesday night, we received some information that some Maoists from Chhattisgarh were trying to enter Koraput from the Andhra side. After that we planned an operation. “The DVF went and conducted the operation as per the district police plan,” Koraput Superintendent of Police Rohit Verma told the media.
Kunjum Hidma alias Mohan:- Kunjum Hidma alias Mohan, known as Hidma in Maoist circles, is carrying out Maoist activities in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. It is reported that he told the police that he joined the Maoists in 2007 at the age of 14. He was inducted into the Maoists’ cultural wing, the Bala Sangam-Jana Natya Mandali (JNM).