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India Gazette
a day ago
- India Gazette
Odisha Police arrest Maoist leader Kunjam Hidma in Koraput
Koraput (Odisha) [India], May 30 (ANI): Odisha's Koraput Police arrested Maoist leader Kunjam Hidma alias Mohan and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 and 35 rounds of bullets. According to an official release, based on credible intelligence regarding the movement of a group of banned CPI (Maoist) cadres in the forest area near the village Petguda under Boipariguda Police Station, a special operation was launched by the District Police using the district voluntary force (DVF) on the night of May 28. In the early hours of May 29, the DVF team noticed a group of Maoists camping on the hill. As the team moved to surround it, the Maoists, on being alerted, opened fire at the DVF team and fled into the jungle. In response, the team exercised controlled fire in self-defence. During the subsequent search, one Maoist cadre, Kunjam Hidma, was apprehended while attempting to hide in the nearby bushes, and others managed to flee, said the officials. According to the officials, Hidma joined the Maoist organisation in 2007 at 14, as he was inducted into Bal Sangham and Jana Natya Mandali (JNM), the cultural wing of the Maoists. From 2007 to 2013, he remained associated with Bal Sangham and JNM. Between 2013 and 2015, he worked as a party member under the Usur Local Organisation Squad (LOS) and received military training, during which he was issued a single-shot rifle. In 2016, he started operating in the AOB (Andhra Odisha Border) platoon, and later in 2019, he was promoted to the rank of ACM (Area Committee Member) and provided with an SLR rifle. He served in a military platoon under Suresh (SZCM), operating in the Bolpariguda area of Koraput district, the cut-off area of Malkangiri district (Odisha), and the Pedabailu region of ASR district (Andhra Pradesh). During 2021-2022, he was assigned to AOB Platoon Section-01, operating in the Pamed area of Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. In 2023, he was transferred to Platoon-24 in the Kerlapal area under Sukma district, and in 2024, temporarily moved to Platoon-26, operating in the Malengiri area of Sukma. He returned to the AOB unit in May 2025 and has been active since then. Under the leadership of Suresh (SZCM) in the AOB team, he operated as an ACM in the South Bastar and Kerlapal areas of Chhattisgarh, said officials. Officials said Hidma was involved in several encounters with police and had Maoist-related cases against him in Odisha's Koraput and Malkangiri districts as well as in Chhattisgarh. (ANI)
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Maoist leader Kunjam Hidma arrested in special operation in Odisha
Odisha's Koraput Police arrested Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader Kunjam Hidma alias Mohan in a special operation by the district police and Odisha's specialised district voluntary force (DVF) constabulary unit Thursday. Hidma, an area committee member, was arrested from the Petguda jungle under Boipariguda police limit, with the police seizing a huge cache of arms and ammunition — including an AK-47 and 35 rounds of bullets. According to police sources, Hidma was part of a party sent to recce the area and give a safe passage to Maoist leader Suresh, a state zonal committee member, from Odisha to Andhra Pradesh. Hidma is working under Suresh. Significantly, Madvi Hidma, the de facto military chief of the CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh who commands Battalion 1 of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, has yet to be arrested. According to Koraput SP Rohit Varma, a special operation was launched Wednesday night after security forces received credible intelligence inputs on the movement of a group of banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres in the forest area near village Petguda. 'The DVF team noticed a group of Maoists camping at the hill on Thursday early morning. As the team moved to surround it, the Maoists, on being alerted, opened fire at the DVF team and fled into the jungle. In response, the team exercised controlled fire in self-defence. During the subsequent search, one Maoist cadre was apprehended while attempting to hide in the nearby bushes,' said Verma. A native of Janaguda under Usur police limit in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, Kunjam joined the Maoist movement in 2007 at the age of 14. He was initially inducted into the Bal Sangham and Jana Natya Mandali (JNM), the cultural wing of the Maoists with which he was associated till 2013, police sources said. Between 2013 and 2015, Kunjam worked as a party member under the Usur Local Operational Squad (LOS) – the local unit of the outfit — and received military training, during which he was issued a single-shot rifle. In 2016, he started operating in AOB (Andhra Odisha Border) platoon and was promoted to the rank of area committee member in 2019 and had by now progressed to using a self-loading rifle (SLR). Hidma served in a military platoon under Suresh, operating in the Boipariguda area of Koraput district — the area that marks the border between Odisha's Malkangiri district and the Pedabailu region in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district. He was involved in a number of Maoist attacks in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh since 2021. Police said Hidma was involved in several encounters with police and had Maoist-related cases against him in Odisha's Koraput and Malkangiri districts as well as in Chhattisgarh.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Security forces recover 8 IEDs, arms and ammunition in Latehar
Daltonganj: Security forces have recovered eight improvised explosive devices (IED), weapons, ammunition and a wireless set while conducting search operations in Netarhat police station limits where a gunfight took place with the Maoists on May 26. The IEDs, weighing 500 gm each, were hidden in a rocky and forested terrain of Toota Pani under Netarhat police station limits. "The bomb disposal squad of the CRPF 11 Battalion diffused all the eight IEDs," Latehar superintendent of police (SP) Kumar Gaurav said. "Apart from the IEDs, the police and a contingent of the CRPF recovered one SLR rifle and one 9 mm carbine, 269 cartridges of different bores," Gaurav said. One wireless set was recovered, along with four magazines of the SLR. On May 26, Maoist sub-zonal commander Manish Yadav, who carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in the area. That apart, a zonal commander, Kundan Kherwar, was arrested.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Cache of arms, IEDs recovered in anti-Maoist operation in Jharkhand's Latehar
Latehar (Jharkhand): Security forces have recovered a large cache of arms and explosives, including eight improvised explosive devices (IEDs), during an intensive anti-Maoist operation in the forested region of Netarhat in Jharkhand's Latehar district, officials said on Wednesday. According to police officials, Maoist cadres had planted the IEDs underground in the Tutapani forest and surrounding hilly terrain under Netarhat police station limits to target security personnel patrolling the area. Each IED weighed around 0.5 kg. These were safely neutralised on-site by the bomb disposal squad, police said. The discovery came amid an ongoing operation launched after an encounter on May 26 in which Maoist commander Manish Yadav, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh, was killed. During the same operation, zonal commander Kundan Kherwar, with a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was apprehended. Following the encounter, Latehar SP Kumar Gaurav ordered a massive cordon-and-search operation in the region. Acting on intelligence inputs, joint teams from Manika and Garu police stations, along with personnel from the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) B Set-147, combed the area intensively. Latehar police stated that the recoveries during the search operation included a 7.62 mm rifle, a 9 mm carbine, forty live cartridges of 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm, seventy-nine live cartridges of 9 mm, four SLR rifle magazines, four magazines of 9 mm carbine, a magazine cover for a 9 mm firearm, military-grade pouches, rifle cleaning rods and oil, and a Motorola wireless communication set. The recovered items suggest the kind of preparations the Maoist squad operating in the region had made. On May 26-27, security forces in the Hussainabad subdivision of neighbouring Palamu district gunned down another top Maoist leader, Tulsi Bhuiyan. An SLR rifle and other arms were seized from the site of that operation as well. Police have said that search and combing operations will continue in both districts to root out any remaining presence of Maoists and dismantle their logistical networks.
India Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Manipur MLAs urge Governor Ajay Bhalla to form
Imphal (Manipur) [India], May 28 (ANI): Ten MLAs, including eight from the BJP, one from the NPP, and one Independent MLA, met Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal on Wednesday, demanding the formation of a 'popular' government in the ethnic violence-hit state. Their meeting with the governor came amid a civil disobedience campaign in the Imphal valley led by a Meitei organisation, which alleged that central armed forces had insulted the state's identity by masking the words 'Manipur State Transport' on a state-run bus on May 20. 'The majority of people want a popular government installed, and that is the reason we came here to meet the Governor,' Independent MLA Sapam Nishikanta Singh told reporters after the meeting. 'We also discussed other things, like the functioning of the President's rule may not be the same after the formation of a popular government. Primarily and basically, the main point was the formation of a popular government. The response of the Governor was also nice,' he added. President's Rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13, days after BJP leader N. Biren Singh resigned as Chief Minister. Ethnic conflict broke out in the State on May 3, 2023, causing the loss of lives of hundreds of people. Meanwhile in a series of operations, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles launched specific information-based operations in Kangpokpi, Senapati, Imphal East, Imphal West and Thoubal districts of Manipur between 19 May to 25 May 2025, according to an official statement. On Monday, the operations were launched in coordination with Manipur Police, CRPF, BSF, and ITBP. According to the Ministry of Defence, the week-long operations, based on precise intelligence inputs, led to the apprehension of 13 cadres belonging to various insurgent outfits active in both hill and valley regions. A significant haul of arms and war-like stores was also recovered during these operations. On May 19, a raid in the Phayeng area of Imphal West district recovered one 7.62 mm Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), one .303 rifle, three 9mm pistols, assorted ammunition, and other military-grade equipment. (ANI)
