32-yr-old Maoist named as Sukma attack mastermind

A 32-year-old battle-hardened Maoist commander has emerged as the likely mastermind behind the massacre of 25 CRPF troopers in Chhattisgarh, authorities investigating the case have said, as the focus shifted to repeated intelligence failures that have led to severe losses for security forces battling rebels in the hotbed of Left-wing insurgency.

Madvi Hidma, who heads the first military battalion of the CPI (Maoist), likely planned and executed the ambush on the group of CRPF personnel in south Sukma on Monday, police said.

Six other jawans were also injured in the Maoist attack, the worst on security personnel since 2010 when 75 CRPF soldiers were killed in Dantewada.

Hidma, also known as Hidmalu and Santosh, is also believed to have been behind another attack on March 11 that killed 12 security personnel.

Considered one of the most dreaded Maoist leaders in Bastar, the hotbed of Maoist insurgency, Hidma was born in Purvati village of south Sukma. His area of operation comprises south Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur.

Though diminutive in physique, he has built up a reputation for himself as a ruthless rebel leader who runs a network of dedicated informers across the region, police officials said.

Police officials scouring the site of Monday’s attack for leads said information received so far linked Hidma to almost all big attacks on security forces in Sukma since 2013. “He mostly coordinates with the local area commanders and sangham sadasyas (outfit members) and for many of them he is like god,” an official has been quoted by media in India.  The Maoists, who claim to be fighting for land rights of marginalised tribal communities, are active across 10 states and Chhattisgarh is seen as one of its last remaining strongholds.