Mahesh Raut is an activist working with

Adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as ...

. He is the youngest accused in the

2018 Bhima Koregaon violence The 2018 Koregaon Bhima riots refers to violence during an annual celebratory gathering on 1 January 2018 at Koregaon Bhima to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima. The violence and stone pelting by a crowd at the gatherin ...

case.

Personal life

Raut was born in Lakhapur village in

Chandrapur district Chandrapur district (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃən̪d̪ɾəpuːɾ (earlier known as ''Chanda district'') is a district in the Nagpur Division in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Chandrapur was the largest district in India until the Gadchirol ...

of Maharashtra's

Vidarbha region Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati and Nagpur divisions. As per the 2011 Census, the region had a population ...

. He did his schooling at Navodaya School in Gadchiroli. He briefly worked as a primary school teacher in 2007. In 2009, he joined TISS, Mumbai to study social work. After completing his degree from TISS, Raut was selected for the Prime Minister Rural Development (PMRD) fellowship. In 2018, he suffered from acute

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary sympto ...

Activism

Raut is a co-convener of the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vilas Andolan (VVJVA), which fights the displacement of marginalised communities. Under the VVJVA, he has campaigned along with the

communities of the region to sell Tendu leaves directly into the market without the involvement of the middlemen. He is also a member of the Bharat Jan Andolan, a human rights NGO. He has campaigned against mining projects in Gadhciroli, including the

Surajgarh Surajgarh is a city and a municipal corporation in the district of Jhunjhunu in the Shekhawati region of the Indian state of Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, s ...

mining project.

Arrest

On 6 June 2018, he was arrested from his house by the

Pune Police Pune City Police Department (PCPD) is the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over 790 km2 in the city of Pune, India. The city police is division of Maharashtra Police, i.e state police department of Maharashtra. The current Pune C ...

, under the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law aimed at the prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sover ...

. He is currently lodged at Taloja central jail.

References

Living people Indian civil rights activists Year of birth missing (living people) People from Chandrapur district Indian social workers Indian prisoners and detainees {{India-activist-stub