Devuji and Hidma — 2 military leaders now at the helm of Maoist party after ‘ideological head’ Sonu surrenders

Devuji is believed to be the current general secretary of the CPI (Maoists) and Hidma is the leader of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. Intelligence sources said neither of them have the connect with sympathisers that Sonu had.

Written by Nikhila Henry

Hyderabad | Updated: October 15, 2025 01:40 AM IST

3 min read

Hidma is a Central Committee member and leader of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

With the surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, the weight of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) rests on the shoulders of Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji (62) and Madvi Hidma alias Santosh (51), both of whom have only headed the military wing of the party or the Central Military Commission (CMC).

While Tirupathi is a Politburo member of the party and believed to be its current general secretary, Hidma is a Central Committee member and leader of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. Tirupathi is from Jagtial in Telangana, and Hidma is from Sukma in Chhattisgarh.

“Neither of them are ready to lay down arms. There are some factions of the party in South Bastar who are supporting them,” an intelligence official in Telangana told The Indian Express, adding, however, that the “number of armed cadre supporting them would be very few.”

In the recent past, Sonu had advocating surrender and “cessation of armed struggle” while Devuji remained tight-lipped over the future of the Maoist party. “Devuji connects the northern and southern commands of the party. Hidma is the party’s most deadly commander. The search will be on for these two now,” an intelligence source said.

Read | With surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, Maoists suffer setback to ideology, communication and people connect

The CPI (Maoist) was formed in 2004, with the merger of the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). The party was outlawed in 2009.

With Devuji and Hidma at the helm, this is the first time that the party has been headed solely by commanders from SC/ST communities. Devuji is from the Madiga community, which is a Scheduled Caste, and Hidma is from a Scheduled Tribe community, intelligence sources said. “This does not mean that they are connected to the people the way some of the older leaders were. As they are military leaders, they are deadly, but they do not have a connect even with sympathisers,” the source said.

Sonu was the chief communications man in the party and its ideological head.

Story continues below this ad

According to intelligence sources, “If they don’t surrender, efforts will be on to neutralise both Devuji and Hidma. The hunt is on currently in the forests of Chhattisgarh.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given a March 2026 deadline for the eradication of Left Wing Extremism in India. Security forces have been conducting widespread combing operations in Chhattisgarh for over a year now to meet this target.

“It needs to be seen how the deadly duo will lead the party and in what direction before what can be called their endgame,” an intelligence official said.

From the homepage