Mumbai | A three-hour hostage drama in Powai ended successfully on Thursday with the rescue of 17 children and two adults but the hostage-taker Rohit Arya was killed after sustaining a bullet injury during the police operation.
Arya (50), who had earlier claimed that his dues for a project for the Maharashtra education department were pending and had even staged a protest in Pune, was declared dead at hospital.
The incident unfolded around 1:30 PM after the Powai police station received an alert that a person had taken 17 children hostage inside R A Studio in the Mahavir Classic building.
The children, boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 12, had been called to the studio for an audition for a web series that had been ongoing for six days.
In a video released before police intervention, hostage-taker Arya explained his motive, claiming he made a plan to hold the children instead of committing suicide.
"I have very simple demands. Very moral, ethical demands. I have some questions," Arya said, adding, "I want to speak to some people... I want these answers. I am not a terrorist, nor do I have any demand for money. (I) want to make simple conversations."
He issued a stern warning to authorities that "the slightest wrong move from your end may trigger me to set this whole place on fire....whether I die or not, the children will be unnecessarily hurt, traumatised for sure....I should not be held responsible."
Arya ended by saying that after the "conversations," he would leave the room and vaguely added that "a lot of people have these problems" and that he would offer a solution through talks, though he never specified what the problems were.
According to police, Arya had been conducting auditions for the last six days. Children would be admitted in the studio at 10 in the morning, and given a lunch break before the session ended at 8 in the evening.
But on Thursday, children did not emerge during the lunch break, which made the parents worried.
"At about 1.30 pm, Powai police station received information that a person had taken 17 children hostage at Mahavir Classic building. The Mumbai Police team conducted a rescue operation and safely freed all the children. During the operation, while rescuing the children, the person got injured, was immediately rushed to the hospital and later declared dead," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade.
Arya was declared dead at 5.15 pm, officials said.
"All the children are safe," said Satyanaranyan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) around 4.15 pm.
According to police, Arya was carrying an air gun and also some chemicals.
Anxious parents waited outside the 10-storey building as the hostage drama unfolded.
After receiving a call about a man holding children hostage inside R A Studio, Powai police officials along with NSG commandos, a Quick Response Team (QRT), Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and a fire brigade team reached the spot, said DCP Nalawade.
Before the police entered the studio, Arya released his video which went viral on social media.
DCP Nalawade said the police tried to negotiate with him, but as the talks made no headway, a police team entered the studio through the bathroom. The fire brigade provided a ladder for the police to climb to a first-floor window.
Seventeen children, a senior citizen and another man were rescued, Nalawade said.
"It was a challenging operation, because we were negotiating with him without any positive outcome....To save the children's lives was our priority," he said.
Former Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar, meanwhile, said he had given financial help to Arya.
Arya, who had been a project director in an initiative run by the education department, took money from school students through a website and the department had taken objection to it, said the Shiv Sena leader.
He had met Arya and even offered him financial help after Arya complained that the department had defaulted on a payment due to him, Kesarkar said.
As per a government resolution of the School Education department dated January 25, 2024, Arya was the director of Project Let's Change which ran the Swachhta Monitor initiative from July 20 to October 2, 2023.
Under the initiative, school students were to act as Swachhta (cleanliness) monitors and discourage people from spitting and littering in public places. Around 64,000 schools and 59 lakh students participated in it.
"I did not default on anyone's payment. I helped him through a cheque out of courtesy. The department was of the view that he took money directly from students by opening a website. The department has sought an explanation from him which was necessary," Kesarkar said.
Arya had also staged an "indefinite strike" in Pune last year for his pending dues, during which he suffered an epileptic attack and was rushed to hospital by bystanders.
His wife, Anjali Arya, had told mediapersons that her husband had been fighting to get the pending payment for his project.
"He was the project head for the PLC Swachhta Monitor. Kesarkar saheb liked the project and told him that the state government was sanctioning Rs 2 crore for it. The entire project was completed, but no funds were paid to Rohit. He did not even get recognition," she had alleged.
