Maoists Call For Nationwide Bandh On Nov 23

Visakhapatnam: Maoists have called for a nationwide bundh on Sunday, November 23, in protest against the killing of their 13 activists, who include three top leaders.

In a press release issued on Friday, spokesperson of the central committee of CPI (Maoist) Abhay said all the 13 comrades had been killed in cold blood.

Abhay maintained that central committee member Hidma and his wife Raje, along with some activists, had arrived in Vijayawada on November 15 for medical treatment. With information provided by an informer, the police rounded up all those present in Vijayawada.

Subsequently, the police brutally killed them, took their bodies to Maredumilli forest and announced that the Maoists had been killed in exchange of fire.

Abhay Hidma, born in a tribal family in Chhattisgarh in 1974, dropped out of school after passing his fifth standard and began moving with Maoist activists in his village. Hidma specialised in arms manufacture and became the commander of a dalam in 2002. He became the central committee member and south zone committee general secretary in 2024.