Nagpur: A day after students of a Pune-based state social welfare department hostel danced to a song eulogising slain Maoist commander, Hidma, minister of state (MoS) Ashish Jaiswal, who’s co-guardian minister of tribal-dominated Gadchiroli district, on Tuesday warned against urban naxals influencing “innocent minds”.Sources said, while five students were from Gadchiroli, one was from Chandrapur. “Police will be counselling the students, all minors, to wean them away from Maoist influencers who weaponise tribal culture for propaganda,” said a senior official in the Maharashtra anti-Naxal apparatus.The dance was part of a series of cultural events, spread over multiple days last week, and some of the participants claimed they were unaware of the context of the song. “From what I have heard, these students had no idea about the song’s background,” said Jaiswal. Sources said, the event organisers are also on police radar.Even though Gadchiroli has now been declared Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)-free, Jaiswal said there are some elements in society which need to be kept in check. “Some destructive forces in society, what we call urban naxals, are trying to poison the minds of tribals, inciting them against the govt, against the system, against the judiciary, and pushing them towards anarchy and the guerrilla movement. Action must be taken against such people,” said Jaiswal.Along with CM Devendra Fadnaivs, Jaiswal is in-charge of Gadchiroli, which was earlier the hotbed of Maoists. “I appeal to my tribal brothers and sisters not to be misled by false narratives and not destroy their own lives.”He added the state has already enacted a law which enables crackdown on urban naxals. “Now, they cannot use legal loopholes as there is a proper provision in law. Our govt will ensure its effective implementation. As far as the Pune incident is concerned, police have taken up the matter seriously and whoever is responsible will face action,” said Jaiswal.Hidma, whose full name was Madvi Hidma, was one of the most wanted Maoist leaders in the country before he was shot in an encounter with Andhra Pradesh’s elite Greyhounds force in Nov 2025. A CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member, he was responsible for several attacks on security forces for over two decades, including the 2010 Dantewada massacre in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed, the 2013 Darbha Valley attack in which Congress lost nearly its entire Chhattisgarh leadership, and the 2017 Sukma ambush in which 37 paramilitary personnel were killed. Security agencies had placed a cumulative reward of Rs 1 crore on his head.
