Mumbai Police on Thursday rescued 19 persons, including 17 teenagers, from a studio in the Powai area, while the man who had held them hostage succumbed to bullet injuries sustained during the operation, officials said.
Rohit Arya, who had released a video statement during the hostage drama that went on for about an hour, was shot by police when he tried to harm the teens with an air gun, and he later died at the hospital, an official said.
“All the children are safe,” said Satyanaranyan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order). Besides an air gun, Arya was also carrying some chemicals, he added.
Arya had apparently called the teenagers — boys and girls around 15 years old — for an audition for a web series, the official said. Once they were at the studio, he held them hostage and released a video.
Initially, Mumbai Police did not mention that there had been a firing during the operation.
The police received a call at about 1.45pm about a man holding children hostage inside RA Studio in Mahavir Classic building, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade.
Powai police officials, along with a Quick Response Team (QRT), Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and a fire brigade team, reached the spot, he said.
Before the rescue, Arya released a video on social media, saying (in Hindi) that he wanted to speak to a few people and ask them questions, and he did not want money. If he was not allowed to do so, he would set fire to the studio, he threatened.
“I want some simple conversations, which is why I have taken these kids hostage,” he said in Hindi in the video. Then he warned in English, “The slightest wrong move from your end will trigger me…”
Police officers tried to negotiate with him, but as the talks made no headway, a police team entered the studio through the bathroom, said DCP Nalawade. Seventeen teenagers, a senior citizen and another man were rescued, he added.
“It was a challenging operation, because we were negotiating with him without any positive outcome…. To save the children’s lives was our priority,” said Nalawade.
Asked by reporters about the incident in Amravati, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said details would be shared soon.
