Forces set up base in Maoist terror Hidma's Bastar bastion

JAGDALPUR: Dealing yet another blow to Left-wing extremists in their 'core' area of south Bastar, counter-Naxal forces have set up a security camp in the den of Bastar's most-dreaded Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, commander of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army's 'Battalion No. 1'.

The forward operating base in Golla Konda on the Bijapur-Sukma border was opened on Saturday, coinciding with the visit of home minister Amit Shah as security forces move deeper into the remaining Maoist bastions in their quest to completely eliminate Left-wing extremism by March 2026.

Hidma is the youngest member of the CPI (Maoist) central committee and the mastermind behind many fatal ambush-attacks, including the 2010 Dantewada massacre in which 75 CRPF personnel were killed and the 2017 attack in Sukma that left over two dozen people dead. He has a Rs 1 crore bounty on his head but has managed to evade capture. Golla Konda is the operating base of PLGA's 'Battalion No. 1' and 'Pamedh Area Committee', considered the most battle-hardened unit of the CPI (Maoist).

As many as 25 forward operating bases or security camps have been set up by forces this year in Bastar division alone, covering the once Naxal-infested zones in Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Kanker. The setting up of these security camps is an exercise in area domination as well as creating a secure bubble to enable development, governance and welfare outreach by the administration in the surrounding villages.

This security-cum-development strategy has been fired up in recent months, with Shah taking frequent reviews to monitor the response to his call for uprooting LWE from the country by March 2026.

A key Maoist bastion brought down by the forces recently was Tekalgudam, where Left-wing extremists were in total control until a few months back. When the forces moved in and established a security camp in Jhidpalli here, there was intermittent firing by extremists for 2-3 days on security personnel manning the outer cordon. Now, of course, the Naxals are on the back foot. In the past couple of days alone, nine Maoist were killed in Bijapur and Narayanpur districts.

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