THANE (Maharashtra): Freedom fighter and Congress leader Ramesh Kulkarni passed away here today following a brief illness, family sources said. Kulkarni (87) is survived by a son and two daughters. He started taking part in the country's freedom movement since his school days.
In 1942, he smuggled pamphlets relating to the freedom movement in a tea kettle and was apprehended by the police at Dadar in Mumbai (then Bombay). Following this, he served a year in jail. In 1961, he became the secretary of the Transport and Dock Workers' Union and was a close associate of former Union minister George Fernandes.
Kulkarni was the chief of the legal cell of the Mumbai Congress Committee. In 1967, he was elected to the erstwhile Thane Municipal Council. He also served in several committees of the then Municipal Council.