Veteran freedom fighter Mohan Ranade, who also participated in the Goa liberation movement, died at a Pune-based hospital in neighbouring Maharashtra. He was 90. Ranade had been ailing since some time and undergoing treatment. Ranade was arrested by Portuguese police in 1955 and incarcerated at the Fort of Caxias near Lisbon in Portugal where he was kept in solitary confinement for six years.

Goa got liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961 and Ranade was released in January 1969, after having spent 14 years in prison. Born in 1929 at Sangli in Maharashtra, Ranade was inspired by freedom fighters like Ganesh Damodar Savarkar and Vinayak Savarkar. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant condoled Ranade’s death and lauded his sacrifices for the state’s liberation.