Who is Barse Deva? Most-wanted Maoist commander and close associate of Madvi Hidma surrenders
Deva, 45, was in charge of No. 1 Battalion, considered the last core fighting unit of the Maoist organisation. He has held the rank of District Area Committee Member (AZCM) since 2021. Deva was a close friend of senior Maoist commander Madvi Hidma.
Barse Deva, 45, was also known as Sainath.
Senior Maoist military commander Barse Deva reportedly surrendered in the presence of Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy on Friday, December 2. Deva, also known as Sainath, is currently in the custody of Telangana Police. “He will appear before the media on Saturday,” a police official said, according to Hindustan Times. According to the police, Deva carried a total reward of more than Rs 25 lakh. It was reported that around 15 Maoist cadres also surrendered along with him.
Deva, 45, was in charge of No. 1 Battalion, considered the last core fighting unit of the Maoist organisation. He holds the rank of District Area Committee Member (AZCM) since 2021. Deva was a close friend of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, who was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh in November 2025. Following Hidma’s murder, Deva assumed a key role in overseeing the Maoist party’s armed operations as chief of its military wing (the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, or PLGA).
Deva and Madvi Hidma were residents of Puvarti village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, which was controlled by Maoists for nearly four decades until a security camp was established in February 2024. Both were involved in several major attacks, including the 2021 Sukma-Bijapur ambush that left 22 security personnel dead. Officials said Deva played an important role in arms procurement, logistics, planning and coordination of armed forces, especially in the forest areas of south Bastar, including Sukma and neighboring districts.
