Ten special forces deployed, additional personnel on high alert, and 50 villages under the radar. The task—to eliminate the last notorious Maoist battalion in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar.
Reports say that security forces are planning to launch massive coordinated military operations against the Maoists.
The sweeping operation would be conducted in the tribal areas of South Bastar.
Naxal Battalion number 1
The main target of the operation is the elusive Naxal commander, Madvi Hidma, and his People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, also known as Battalion number 1. The group is considered one of the most lethal units of the Maoists.
Hidma, the last top-rung leader, has been the mastermind behind some of the deadliest attacks on the Indian forces in the last 15 years.
Madvi Hidma
In 2010, the Dantewada attack that killed 76 Central Reserve Police Force was executed by Hidma. In 2021, he laid an ambush in Bijapur’s Tarrem area that left 22 security personnel dead.
The offensive against the outlawed group is reportedly being planned in Sukma, Narayanpur and Bijapur districts.
Over 50 villages, where Hidma is believed to operate, are being targeted in the offensive.
The operation against the Maoists comes as Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline of March 2026 to make Bastar forests free from the Maoists.
With 5 months left in Shah’s set deadline, the security forces have upped the ante to weed out the ‘last active battalion’ in the area.
The operation will be a joint one, involving the District Reserve Gaurd ( DRG ), Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force and Central Reserve Police Force units.
Officials believe that eliminating Hidma and his battalion will mark an end to the decades-long insurgency in the area.
But catching Hidma may prove a difficult task for the forces. He is said to have escaped multiple times in the past.
In April 2025, he escaped during an anti-Naxal operation that lasted for 21 days in Karregutta Hills, where 31 Maoists were killed.
In January same year, Hidma was cornered during an encounter in the Pujari-Kanker area of South Bastar. But he managed to give the slip to the security forces.
