Cop nephew hunts for wanted Maoist
RAIPUR: They were born in the same family and grew up together in Chhattisgarh’s remote south Sukma district.
Their childhood was spent traversing the thick forests of central India, learning the tactics of guerilla warfare from the commanders at the dreaded children’s wing of the Maoists, which they both joined at 12.
But two decades on, fate has pit them against each other. On one side is 35-yearold Madvi Hidma, arguably India’s most-wanted Maoist commander who is accused of planning and executing a string of deadly attacks on security personnel in Chhattisgarh that have claimed more than 200 lives.
On the other side is his nephew and childhood friend Madkam Bheema, who rose through the Maoist ranks but surrendered in 2006 and is now a cop.
“We were born in the same village, Purvati. I was his only friend as he was my mother’s brother and we were the same age but now I am his biggest enemy,” says Bheema.
Bheema now spends his time hunting the jungles for landmines and scouring local villages on intelligence to track down Maoists, who have been fighting a decades-long insurgency against government forces to claim land rights for tribals.
The place of his birth, Purvati, is one of several pockets known as “liberated zones” where the militants have set up parallel administration and there is scant government presence. His knowledge of forest trails and Maoist strategies is a great help to police, who often find themselves outfoxed by local militants’ guerilla tactics.
“If Hidma comes my way during an encounter, I won’t think of him as my friend,” says Bheema. “Amne -samne ke ladai mein goli chalegi aur jiskee kismet hogi bachega (In a face-to-face fight, bullets will fly and whoever has fate on his side will live).”
The duo became president and vice-president of the Bal Sangam (Maoist’s children wing) at 14. Later, Bheema became secretary of Guerilla Peoples Committee in CPI (Maoist) and Hidma went to join the military battalion of the party. Locals say the two were inseparable.
But the relationship soured in 2006 when Bheema surrendered. He says he was disillusioned after several men he had recruited for the extremist group were murdered on the suspicion that they were police informers.