Madvi Hidma, the most wanted leader within the Maoist ranks, was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

Hidma alias Santosh, a central committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and leader of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, was allegedly responsible for at least 26 lethal armed attacks.

Unidentified security officials told the newspaper that 51-year-old Hidma, his wife Madakam Raje and four others were fleeing from Chhattisgarh when they were surrounded by security forces in the Maredumilli forest in the district between 6 am and 7 am.

The other four Maoists – Deve, Lakmal, Malla and Kamlu – served as guards to Hidma, The Hindu reported.

“All six bodies, including those of Madvi and Raje, have been recovered from the spot of the encounter,” The Hindu quoted quoted Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Chief Mahesh Chandra Laddha as saying. “They have been shifted to Rampachodavaram Area Hospital for post-mortem.”

Laddha added that a few Maoists also ran away from the place where the exchange of fire had taken place, adding that a search is on for them.

Security forces recovered two AK-47s, 15 electrical detonators and 150 non-electrical detonators, along with a few other weapons and ammunition, from the site during the operation, The Hindu reported.

Another security official told The Indian…