It was shortly after lunch time, on Monday. A battalion of close to 80 soldiers had just sat down for lunch in Chattisgarh's Sukma district when they came under heavy fire. The attackers were armed with Kalashnikovs and arrows attached to explosives. Over the next couple of hours, 25 CRPF jawans lost their lives and scores more were injured. Even though there is no concrete confirmation of how many Naxals were injured in the encounter that followed, jawan who recuperates from his wounds in the hospital said he alone had shot dead at least four of the attackers.?
In the action that has followed, the centre has declared a war on Naxals and told the forces to go on an all-out offensive. But even then precious little is known outside intelligence circles about a man referred to just as 'Hidma'. The security agencies also believe that he was the man behind 2010 ambush in Dantewada which had left 76 soldiers dead.
IndiaToday
Here is what we know about Hidma?till now:
1. Hidma is a tribal naxal who¡¯s a local of Dantewada region is currently heading the first battalion of Maoists which is deployed in Sukma-Bijapur region, southern Bastar.?Hidma?is believed to be the master of guerrilla warfare because he is a local he knows the terrain very well which helps him deceive and elude security forces repeatedly.
2. He is said to be just 25 year old and said to have led many operations against security forces in Bastar. This includes the latest attack on Monday as well as on March 11th 2017 in which 11 soldiers had died.
PTI
3. A Class 8 dropout, Hidma belongs to Jagargunda in Sukma district and is believed to have tremendous influence on local people there.
4. Hidma heads the People¡¯s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion 1, one of the most lethally and trained Maoist unit in southern Chhattisgarh.
5. Hidma is also believed to be involved in an attack on a congress convoy in 2013 in Jeeram Valley Chattisgarh in which 31 people had died. Some of the dead included local Congress leaders like Nand Kumar Patel, Veteran Leader VC Shukla and Salwa Judum movement founder Mahendra Karma.
6. Security experts and agencies also believed that he was behind the Dantewada ambush in April 2010 in which about 76 CRPF troopers had been killed.
PTI
7. Hidma was allegedly involved in the abduction of IAS officer and Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon in 2012.
8. He carries a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head.
9. In January this year, there were speculations that he might have been killed in encounters with security forces, but with these attacks proved that he¡¯s alive.?
Monday's Maoist attack on CRPF soldiers guarding the construction of the road was the second stealth attack in last one month. In March similar ambush was laid in Sukma itself in which 11 CRPF soldiers had died. And now if the government decides to retaliate, the violence between naxals and security forces is likely to escalate in the months to come.?