There is an incident in Tulsikrit’s Ramcharitmanas and the incident is of the time when Lakshman cuts off the nose of Ravana’s sister Shurpanakha at the behest of elder brother Ram. With her nose cut off, Shurpanakha goes to her brother Ravana and narrates the whole story. Then Ravana asks her to go to Khar-Dushan but Shurpanakha tells that Khar-Dushan has been killed. Referring to Ravana’s mood at that time, Tulsidas writes – Sur Nar Asur Nag Khag Mahi. No one is my follower. Har Dushan Mohi Sam Balvanta. I will kill you without God.1॥
That means no god, human, demon or bird has the courage to collide with my servants. Khar and Dushan were warriors equal to me and no one can kill them without God. The place where these Khar and Dushan were killed and where Surpanakha’s nose was cut off, was called Dandak Van in Satyayuga, which was a part of Ravana’s empire and which was ruled by Khar-Dushan. When Ram went to that Dandak forest, he killed the demons and in the same undertaking, Sita was also abducted from Panchavati, which was a part of the Dandak forest.
The old story of this Dandak forest is because in Kaliyuga and in modern India that Dandak forest is called Dandakaranya. An area of about 92 thousand square kilometres, on which till some time ago there was that red terror, which is called Naxalism and whose dreaded people have been dreaming of gaining power of this country on the strength of weapons, but now it has been hit like the last nail in the coffin of this terror. Security forces have killed Naxalite Hidma, who had a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his forehead and was seen as a myth in the forests of Dandakaranya. Let us tell you the story of the elimination of that master of Naxalite terror, who along with his wife had forced the entire Dandakaranya to live under the shadow of Red Terror.
Naxalite was infamous by the name of Hidma
That Naxalite was also known by the names of Santosh, Hidmalu, Hidmanna or Madvi Hidma, but in the documents of the security forces, he was infamous by the name of Hidma, who had carried out at least 26 Naxalite operations in the Dandakaranya area and in which more than 200 security forces personnel were martyred. Because of his dangerous operation, he had become a living legend among his people, which no one could see, but his terror was felt by everyone.
In 2007, Hidma attacked the security camp of Bastar.
The initial biggest attack of this Hidma was the attack on the security camp of Bastar in the year 2007. 55 soldiers were martyred in this attack on the security camp of Rani Bodli. Hidma was also the mastermind of the Dantewada Naxalite attack in 2010 in which 76 CRPF soldiers were martyred. Another big Naxalite Basavaraju, who carried out this attack, was also killed in May this year.
Similarly, in 2010 itself, 20 soldiers were martyred in the Chingavaram ID blast. That too was executed by the same Hidma. In 2013, a total of 32 people, including a top Congress leader of Chhattisgarh, were killed in the Naxalite attack in Jheeram Valley. Hidma was also behind it, under whose leadership more than 250 Naxalites opened fire for about one and a half hours. Be it the Burkapal Naxalite attack of 2017, in which 25 CRPF soldiers were killed or the Sukma-Bijapur encounter of 2021, in which 22 soldiers were martyred, Hidma was responsible for all these attacks, who had taken up arms at the age of just 15 and by the time he turned 50, he had become responsible for about 26 major Naxalite attacks in the country, due to which At least 200 soldiers were martyred in the attack.
Notorious Naxalite Hidma was born in 1981
The story begins from Purvatti village in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, where Santosh was born in the year 1981. Born in the Muria tribe, Santosh’s village Purvatti falls on the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts. At the age of just 10, he had joined the Naxalite group, which was then called Bal Sangham Cadre. By the time he turned 15, he had taken up arms, for which he was trained by two senior Naxalites, Ramanna and Badaranna. Climbing one step at a time, he reached the armed squad of Naxalites, which is called PLGA i.e. People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army.
The year was 2000 and the date was 2 December. In a press release issued by the Naxalites, it was said that they are forming a new and armed organization, which will be named People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. This guerrilla army will work on the lines of the organizations of Türkiye, Philippines and Peru.
The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army will work under the leadership of the Central Military Commission, the top most organization of the Naxalites and wherever the security forces conduct operations against the Naxalites, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army will give a befitting reply to them. Armed Santosh i.e. Hidma also became a fighter of this People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. He was adept in fighting in the jungle, adept in ambushing and running away with his fighters after encountering the security forces. His communication network and intelligence in the jungle area was very strong. He had acquired all these qualities during his training in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh and in the year 2002, he became fully active in Chhattisgarh.
The biggest Naxalite attack in Indian history took place on March 15, 2007.
By the year 2004, he became the secretary of Konta Area Committee of Bastar. In 2007, he became the commander of Company No. 3 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, after which he carried out the biggest Naxalite attack in the history of India. That date was March 15, 2007. On March 16, there was the festival of Holi in the country and the whole country was tired and sleepy after preparing for this festival. 56 army soldiers were also sleeping in Ranibodli camp, about 50 kilometers away from Bijapur city of Chhattisgarh. On the night of March 15, about 500 Naxalites, under the leadership of Hidma, surrounded the entire village and opened fire on the soldiers. By the time the soldiers handled the weapons and took charge against the Naxalites, they locked the soldiers in the room and threw petrol bombs. In this two-hour bloody game, 55 soldiers were martyred and at that time it was the biggest Naxalite attack in Indian history.
Hidma got promotion in the organization after the Naxalite attack.
This massacre gave Hidma a different identity in his organization. As a reward, in 2009, he was made the deputy commander of PLGA Battalion No. 1, the most dangerous squad of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. In the year 2010, he became the Supreme Commander of PLGA Battalion No. 1 and then he carried out the Naxalite attack of Tadmetla, which is considered to be the biggest Naxalite attack in Indian history. 76 CRPF soldiers were martyred in this attack. As Hidma climbed one step after another in his Naxalite organization, he became more mysterious. He allowed a photo of himself to be released, in which he is seen with an AK-47. The same photo of him was also available with the security forces. His wife Raje or Rajakka, who was with him like a shadow in this operation, was as dangerous as Hidma and was a serious challenge for the security forces.
Security forces eliminated Hidma in a two-hour operation.
Together, these two husband and wife created such terror in Dandakaranya that even the biggest operation of the security forces, the most modern technology and all the modern weapons could not even capture a photograph of them, let alone reaching them. In the name of weapons, apart from AK 47 and AK 56, they had weapons like SLR, INSAS, Corbine, Rocket and IED, through which they could encounter any army. The Naxalites who have surrendered in recent times and who have had direct contact with Hidma at one time or the other, also say that Hidma used to make a map of the forest on his palm and find ways to escape. Even after being surrounded by security forces several times, he never panicked and used to do foolproof planning before carrying out any crime, but the morning of Tuesday (November 18, 2025) proved to be the time for this notorious Naxalite. The Naxalite, who had been posing a serious challenge to the Indian security forces for more than 35 years, was killed by the security forces in just two hours.
Security forces killed Hidma before the scheduled date.
In fact, on the morning of Tuesday (November 18, 2025), Hidma along with his wife Madakkam Raje had fled from Chhattisgarh and were hiding in Maredumilli forest of Alluri Sitaram Raju district of Andhra Pradesh. For the last few weeks, the security forces had kept an eye on her movement, because Home Minister Amit Shah had set a deadline for Hidma’s killing and that date was fixed as November 30, 2025. Under this, the search for Hidma was going on. On the night of 17 November itself, security forces had received news of a large number of Naxal movements on the Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh-Odisha border. The combing was going on and then on November 18, around 6 to 7 am, Hidma’s group had an encounter with the security forces in the Maredumilli forest. In this, Hidma, his wife and four more Naxalites were killed and in this way the security forces killed Hidma 12 days before the deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
However, the manner in which Hidma was killed in just a two-hour operation is a news of great relief for the security forces. Because even before this, there were at least five major attempts to surround Hidma and kill her, but always the security forces kept falling into the trap and losing their lives. For example, Operation Prahar, which took place in the year 2017. Its sole purpose was to catch Hidma dead or alive. Months of combing took place, thousands of security personnel worked day and night, it was said that Hidma was also shot, but nothing happened to him and he emerged stronger and more dangerous than before.
Another attempt was made in 2021. More than 800 soldiers of CRPF, Cobra, DRG and STF took charge, but they got trapped in the trap laid by Hidma and 22 soldiers were martyred. Just this year in April, the largest anti-Naxal campaign in Indian history was launched, in which about 25 thousand soldiers were deployed. The aim was to destroy Hidma. 31 other Naxalites were killed, but Hidma survived that too.
March 31, 2026 will be the last date of Naxalism in the country.
The officers involved in this operation said that even if they had known where Hidma was, they would have come to know before reaching her and would have left from there, but what happened on November 18, the security forces had never even imagined. Hidma, who had managed to escape safely in the middle of such a huge operation, was killed in just two hours of effort. And now there is an atmosphere of celebration among the common people of Dandakaranya. Because Hidma’s death is not just the death of one Naxalite but the death of the entire movement which had maintained red terror in the area. Now the people in front and behind Hidma are either sick, old or so weak that no one is going to listen to them. First, the death of Basavaraju and us Hidma has put the final seal towards achieving that goal, under which March 31, 2026 will be the last date of Naxalism in this country.
Also read: AIMIM’s big bet on Assam’s political chess, put an end to alliance speculations, said- ‘Not in the state…’