Thousands gather in Puvarthi for funeral of slain Maoist leader Hidma

Top Maoist Commander Madivi Hidma, killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh earlier this week along with his wife Raje, was laid to rest in his native village Puvarthi, Sukma district, Chhattisgarh. Despite police restrictions, thousands of adivasis attended the funeral.

Kothagudem: Despite restrictions by police, a large number of adivasis turned up for the funeral ceremony of top Maoist Commander Madivi Hidma at his native village Puvarthi in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday.

It might be noted that Hidma and his wife Raje were killed in an encounter in Maredumilli forests in ASR district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. Their bodies were handed over to Hidma’s family members on Wednesday night after postmortem at Rampachodavaram Area Hospital.

---

Hidma’s mother Madivi Pojje, who waited years to see her son, grieved on seeing his body. Hundreds of men, women and youngsters from Jabagatta, Batum, Minatta Tekalgudem and other villages gathered at the village to share her grief.

Just a week ago, Pojje had appealed to Hidma to come back home by quitting arms and shared a meal with Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma, who visited Puvarthi village on November 10 to urge her to tell her son to return to mainstream life.

In view of Hidma’s position in the Maoist structure and popularity he enjoyed among the adivasis, his body was shifted to Chhattisgarh amid tight security and heavy police deployment was arranged at the village on Thursday to avoid any untoward incident. The funeral of Hidma and his wife Raje was conducted as per the adivasi traditions

Madivi Hidma alias Santosh was born in 1981 in Puvarthi village. For many years his personal details and appearance remained a mystery until a photograph surfaced earlier this year. He had joined the CPI (Maoist) in the late 1990s and rose quickly through the ranks because of his operational tactics.

Ultimately, he became the Commander of PLGA Battalion No: 1, considered the Maoists’ deadliest fighting wing in Dandakaranya region spanning Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Maharashtra because of its attacks on security forces.

Hidma was the youngest member and the only tribal from Bastar on the Maoists Central Committee to which he was elevated last year. As the Bastar range Inspector General of Police, Sundarraj P put it; his death was a decisive gain for the security forces and a deadly blow to the Maoist movement.