Top Maoist Leader Kunjam Hidma Nabbed by Odisha Police
By Suryanarayan Panda
Koraput (Odisha), May 29: In a major success against Maoist insurgency, Odisha Police on Thursday arrested top Maoist leader Kunjam Hidma, alias Mohan, during an anti-Maoist operation in Koraput district. Hidma, carrying a bounty of ₹4 lakh, was captured near Petguda village under Boipariguda police limits.
Acting on precise intelligence about the movement of armed CPI (Maoist) cadres, a special District Voluntary Force (DVF) team, led by Jeypore SDPO Parth Kashyap and senior officer Dibya Prasad Parida, launched a combing operation late on May 28. As security forces closed in, Maoists opened fire before fleeing into nearby forests. During the search operation, Hidma was apprehended while attempting to hide in bushes.
Originally from Janaguda village in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, Hidma is an Area Committee Member (ACM) of the banned CPI (Maoist). The operation also yielded a major arms haul — an AK-47 rifle, 35 rounds of live ammunition, detonators, two kilograms of gunpowder, radios, and Maoist propaganda material.
Koraput SP Rohit Varma said, “Based on credible intelligence, a special DVF operation was launched in the forest near Petguda on Wednesday night. As the team tried to encircle a Maoist group at a hilltop camp, they were fired upon and responded with controlled fire in self-defence. During the subsequent search, one cadre, Hidma, was apprehended while others fled.”
Interrogation revealed Hidma’s long involvement in Maoist operations across Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. He reportedly joined the insurgency in 2007 at just 14 and swiftly rose through the ranks, receiving combat training and participating in numerous armed encounters. Police have linked him to at least seven major ambushes in Odisha — four in Koraput and three in Malkangiri — as well as incidents in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.
Further investigations are underway to trace his associates and uncover more about his cross-border Maoist network.
Photograph: Koraput SP Rohit Varma (bottom left) and SDPO Parth Kashyap brief media on the operation that led to Kunjam Hidma’s arrest (top, third from left).
