Mumbai hostage crisis: Day of ordeal for 17 children; details of what exactly happened
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Mumbai hostage crisis: Day of ordeal for 17 children; details of what exactly happened")
The acting studio in Powai, Mumbai, and the suspect. Photograph: (Screengrabs from videos on X)
The children, all aged between 8 and 15 years, had left their homes to chase their dream of becoming an actor one day. And hence, they reached an audition studio in Mumbai’s Powai area along with 80 others who had come to audition for an upcoming web series.
Mumbai: Thursday turned out to be an ordeal for 17 children by the end of the day in India’s financial capital, Mumbai. All aged between 8 and 15 years old, the children had left their homes to chase their dream of becoming an actor one day. And hence they reached an audition studio in Mumbai’s Powai area along with 80 othera children who had come in to audition for an upcoming web series. There they met Rohit Arya, who worked as an employee at the RA studio and also ran a YouTube channel.
Auditions went on for several hours from 9 am on Thursday, and around 1 pm he asked over 80 children to go. However, Arya did not let 17 children go and held them hostage for nearly two hours.
Distressed parents informed the police, who rescued all the children safely, but the ordeal went on for nearly two hours.
The accused was killed in cross-firing with the police.
Also Read: Hostage crisis involving 17 children at Powai acting studio triggers panic in Mumbai; suspect dies
Who were these children who were held hostage?
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- Nearly 100 children today had gone to audition for an upcoming web series.
- The auditions started from 9 am, and 83 children were told to go after their auditions were done
- The remaining 17 children were held hostage by the accused
- All of them were aged between 8 and 15 years
Who was Rohit Arya?
- Arya was an employee at the RA Studio and also ran a YouTube channel.
- For days, he had reportedly been conducting auditions, drawing in families.
- Arya was originally from Pune.
- He had secured a tender for a school project linked to the education department during the tenure of then Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar.
- Rohit Arya had also started the Swacchta Monitor concept in Maharashtra in 2023.
- He had alleged that he was not paid dues and credit for this concept was snatched from him
How did the cops come to know of the crisis?
- Police said they received a call around 1.45 pm, and the crisis ended around 3.45 pm.
- A team initially tried to negotiate and then conducted a forced entry through the bathroom door, detained the accused after cross-firing, and safely rescued all the children.
WATCH: Breaking: Mumbai hostage-taker dies after standoff with cops, 17 children rescued
What was the motive?
In a video released after the incident, Arya insisted that his demands were not financial but "moral" and "ethical." He also warned authorities not to provoke him. "The reason I have taken these children hostage is that I took them hostage as part of a plan," Arya said in the video.
"I am Rohit Arya. Instead of attempting a suicide, I have made a plan to take some children hostage. I don't have many demands, very simple ones that are moral and ethical. I have some questions and want to talk to some people and counter-question them, but I want these answers."
How did the accused Rohit Arya get killed?
- Arya was in possession of a gun, some chemicals, and a lighter.
- He threatened to shoot using the gun, and after failures of negotiations, he opened fire at police using his gun, which later turned out to be an air gun.
- The police have seized the gun, chemicals, and have sent them to the forensic lab.
- Police claim that they were not in a position to take any chance, and that’s when the lead commander shot the accused.
Powai police say they are investigating the motive. “We will get in touch with his family, other staff members from the studio and see what exactly went wrong.”
