Mahesh Raut is an activist working with

Adivasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The te ...

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council in Gadchiroli district in the state of Maharashtra, central India. It is located on eastern side of Maharashtra, and is the administrative headquarters of the district. Gadc ...

. He is the youngest accused in the

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

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 Gadchir ...

of Maharashtra's

Vidarbha region Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Be ...

. He did his schooling from Navodaya school in Gadchiroli. He briefly worked as a primary teacher around 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 a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood ( hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, an ...

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

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 Jhunjhunun in the sekhawati region of Indian state of Rajasthan.This place is also very well acknowledged by the commendable work done by Late Rajvaidya Shri Chotelal Ji Sharma i ...

mining project. He has also campaigned against caste discrimination.

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 ...

, under the

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

. 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