Hidma joined the Naxalite movement in the 1990s and is now suspected to be around 40 years of age.
A contingent of 1,500 troops carried out a search-and-destroy operation on the borders of Bijapur and Sukma on Saturday after receiving input about Hidma’s presence.
Battalion 1 of the Hidma People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army is one of the most lethally armed and rigorously trained units of Maoists operating in the Sukma-Bijapur area in South Bastar, and is a member of the Maoists’ Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZ).
He is a member of the tribal community of Purvarti village in Sukma district. Hidma joined the Naxalite movement in the 1990s and is now suspected to be around 40 years of age.
Suspected of being behind several Naxal operations against the Indian Armed Forces – the infamous April 2017 attack in Sukma, in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed and on 11 March in the same area in which 12 Central Force personnel were killed – Hidma Has a reward of 40 lakh rupees on his head.
The guerrilla leader is said to be involved in the May 2013 attack in the Jhiram Valley that killed 32 people, including top Congress leaders from Chhattisgarh.
Apart from this, Hidma is also said to have been involved in one of the worst attacks on security personnel in 2010 after killing 76 CRPF personnel in Tadmetla in Dantewada district.
He was also suspected to have been involved in an incident in March 2017, when 12 CRPF personnel were ambushed to secure a road-building party near Bhajji in Sukma.