3 min readHyderabadUpdated: Nov 19, 2025 08:06 PM IST
Top Naxalite commander Madvi Hidma, who had masterminded several attacks over the last two decades, was killed in an encounter in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. (CRPF via PTI Photo)
“It’s over for the Maoists. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is finished,” said a Telangana-based intelligence officer, soon after Madvi Hidma, 51, one of the most wanted Maoist leaders, was killed in an encounter with the Andhra Pradesh police on November 18.
While security and intelligence officials in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha believe Hidma’s killing is a huge setback for the outfit, they concede that they still have Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji and Misir Besra alias Sunirmal, both Politburo and Central Committee members, to reckon with.
Even as former Maoists and intelligence officials maintained that Devuji had been elevated to the role of the party’s general secretary, members of the banned outfit denied this, stating that the Central Committee had not yet met to determine who would lead the party next.
Hidma’s death is not the first big loss for the outfit this year.
On May 21, its general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh along with 27 other cadres. These deaths, coupled with the Home Ministry’s deadline of March 2026 for the elimination of Maoists, have left the outfit at its “weakest” and its cadre “scattered”, said security officials.
This sentiment was reflected in letters written by Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, 70, a Politburo member and the Maoist party’s ideological head, before he laid down arms in October this year in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, along with 60 other cadres.
Sonu’s letters, in which he pushed for the “cessation of armed struggle”, had brought to light the ideological split in the Maoist party.
“The letters and counter-letters all revealed deep ideological fissures in the Maoist party,” says an intelligence officer.
Sonu’s letters triggered a war of words within the party, with Devuji, who then headed the central military commission or the outfit’s armed wing, accusing Sonu of being a “traitor”.
The same month, Sunirmal made a rare appearance to condemn a “ceasefire” that the Maoists, headed by Devuji, had reached with the Telangana police.
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Faced with heightened security offensive and internal rifts, the Maoist outfit has shrunk, says a top police officer, adding that there were no recruitments to the outfit last year.
“The number of active cadres in the party has reduced to a handful now. Devuji is hiding somewhere on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, and Sunirmal cannot step out of the eastern region or Jharkhand,” says a security official.
The recent deaths and surrenders have crippled the Maoist party, the official said. “Over five central committee members, most of whom were from Telangana, have been killed. Rupesh, the party’s bombmaker, surrendered. So did Chandranna, who was an influential Central Committee member in the Telugu states. The party is seemingly facing an unprecedented crisis and buckling under pressure. Survival will be tough. It would be better if the remaining leaders put down their arms and surrender,” he says.
Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice.
Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed regional coverage across all five South Indian states. Her expansive career also includes a tenure at the BBC in New Delhi and contributions to prestigious international outlets such as The Sunday Times (London) and HuffPost India.
Expertise & Focus Areas
Nikhila’s reportage is marked by a deep-seated understanding of grassroots movements and institutional policy. Her core focus areas include:
Regional Politics: Comprehensive analysis of the socio-political dynamics across South India.
Education & Student Movements: Chronicling the evolution of Indian academics and the rise of youth activism.
Minority Affairs: Rigorous reporting on the welfare, rights, and challenges facing marginalized communities.
National Beat: Elevating regional stories to national prominence through investigative and on-ground reporting.
Authoritativeness & Trust
A respected figure in Indian media, Nikhila is not only a seasoned reporter but also an accomplished author and editor. She authored the critically acclaimed book The Ferment: Youth Unrest in India and edited Caste is Not a Rumour, a collection of writings by Rohith Vemula. Her dual background in daily news reporting and long-form authorship allows her to provide readers with a nuanced, historically-informed perspective on contemporary Indian society.
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