Mahesh Raut, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, turned 33 inside Taloja central jail on Wednesday.
He called his sister and mother at Gadchiroli but could speak only for two minutes as the call was disconnected after that.
Mr. Raut is the youngest accused in the case and was arrested from his house in Nagpur on June 6, 2018 on charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). His sister, Monali, said this was his third birthday away from the family.
Ms. Raut told The Hindu that he had called her older sister Sonali and mother, who live with the extended family at Wadsa Tehsil, on Wednesday.
Ms. Sonali said the entire family was eager to talk to him, but the call doesn't last for more than two minutes. “A police official speaks for the first few seconds to confirm if they are his family and then we are able to talk to him. After two minutes the call gets disconnected on its own,” she said.
Ms. Raut said she was able to meet her brother before the lockdown on March 14 to give him medicines for his ulcerative colitis for two months. Now that postal services have started, she has been able to send a letter and medicines to him.
Mr. Raut is a tribal ( adivasi ) rights activist from Gadchiroli and has studied at the Tata Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai. He also obtained a fellowship under the Prime Minister Rural Development programme in Gadchiroli.
