The incident unfolded on Thursday afternoon when the Powai police station received an alert that a person had taken 16 children hostage. In a major security scare, 16 children and a woman were briefly held hostage in Mumbai’s Powai area, leading to panic and prompting the authorities to launch a rescue operation.
The dramatic situation, which lasted for three-hour, unfolded at RA Studio near the L&T building in Mumbai on Thursday afternoon, where the children had been called for an ‘audition’. The authorities said they received a call at around 3 pm and that 17 people were held hostage in the building. The Mumbai Fire Brigade launched a rescue operation, where they used hydraulic tools to cut open the grills and make way for the police.
The Mumbai Police safely rescued the 16 children and a woman, who were called for an audition for a web series that had been ongoing for two days. The police said that the accused, identified as Rohit Arya, was shot dead during the rescue operations. The police said that Arya seemed to be mentally unstable. The police, in an initial statement, said that he was also carrying some weapon, which looked like a gun. Arya was later found carrying an air gun and also some chemicals.
The Mumbai Police said that the children have been safely rescued and that they are safe.
“All children have been safely rescued from the spot. The man, Rohit Arya has been detained by the Police. The Police are talking to him and trying to find out why he took such a step and if actually is mentally unstable,” an official said. Jeevan Sonawane, Senior police inspector of Powai police station, said that the accused wanted to speak to former Maharashtra education minister Deepak Vasant Kesarkar regarding some issue.
“The person behind the hostage wanted to speak to former Maharashtra education minister Deepak Kesarkar regarding some issues he had with the department,” Jeevan Sonawane said. The accused also released a video, which is believed to have been recorded at a time of the hostage. In the video, he purportedly said he had some demands and he wanted to talk to some people, and ask them questions. He further said he took the children hostage as part of a plan as he wanted to have “a simple conversation”. Arya, however, didn’t elaborate on his demands or with whom he wanted to talk.
