Bhubaneswar: In a significant breakthrough, the Odisha Police today arrested notorious Maoist Kunjam Hidma in Koraput district.
Hidma, a wanted Maoist leader, was apprehended from the Petaguda jungle near the Baipariguda police station.
According to Koraput Superintendent of Police Rohit Verma, Hidma was involved in several major Maoist incidents in Koraput and Malkangiri districts. A reward of Rs 4 lakh had been announced for information leading to his capture. A reward of Rs 8 lakhs had been announced by the Chhattisgarh government for providing information to arrest him. Acting on a tip-off, Koraput police, led by the SDPO, laid a trap and arrested him.
Hidma, a resident of Jhanaguda village in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, had joined the Maoist organisation at the age of 14 in 2007.
During the arrest, the police seized several incriminating items, including 47 firearms, 35 live rounds of ammunition, one magazine, 27 detonators, 90 wire-bound detonators, two kg of gelatin powder, two steel tiffin boxes, two radios, two earphones, one walkie-talkie, two knives, four torchlights, Maoist literature, medicines, and clothing.
