Mumbai hostage crisis: Accused Rohit Arya was conducting fake audition for three days

Mumbai: Mumbai Police on Thursday rescued 19 persons including 17 children from a studio in 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 children with an air gun and later died at hospital, an official said. However, what is baffling is how Arya was conducting a fake audition process for a web series for the past three days in the city.

While on the first day there were around 100 boys and girls, on the third day only the shortlisted 17 were present.

These 17 kids, who hail from Mumbai and the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) were his victims.

The Mumbai Police is trying to piece together the chain of events by speaking to people in the buildings nearby, the children who were taken hostage and their parents.

An eyewitness to the incident, Dinesh Gosavi, said that the auditions continued for three days.

“There was panic when the kids did not come out during the lunch hours. Suddenly, a message was received that he had kidnapped the children” he said.

“When the police teams reached here, it was found that the children had been kidnapped. Mumbai Police team went in and safely rescued the children...It should be investigated whether the studio is legal or illegal and the perpetrator should be given strict punishment,” Gosavi said.

The police are studying the digital footprint of Rohit Arya to ascertain more details about his life and how he lured the students.

“It was a normal day. However, post noon the crisis came to fore when the students did not come out during lunch hours. There was a complete panic situation,” a bystander said, adding that police surrounded the complex and gained entry and the operation was conducted successfully.