Mumbai hostage case: Cops to record statement of Rohit Arya's wife

Mumbai: Police will record the statement of Anjali Arya, the wife of slain hostage-taker Rohit Arya, who had held 19 people, including 17 children, captive at a recording studio in Mumbai on October 30, as she has shown her willingness, officials said on Wednesday.

Rohit Arya, 50, was killed in police action during the rescue operation at a building in Powai area.

"Rohit Arya's brother-in-law has told the police that his sister is willing to record her detailed statement. Anjali's statement is likely to be recorded by the crime branch in the next couple of days," the official said.

Rohit Arya had launched a hunger strike in Pune last year, apparently to demand the pending dues from the government for the "Swachhata Monitor" Project, a claim denied by the school education department.

Anjali had purportedly told media persons that her husband was trying to secure the pending payment for the project for which the government had sanctioned Rs 2 crore. The entire project was completed, but no funds were paid to her husband, she had claimed when her husband sat on the fast.

When the hostage drama unfolded at the studio, Anjali was in Ahmedabad. Rohit Arya's body was claimed by Anjali's brother from JJ Hospital, and the last rites were performed in Pune.

Multiple teams of the Mumbai crime branch are investigating the hostage crisis and the death of Arya.

Crime branch officials are investigating various angles of the case and going to record statements of everyone connected with the episode, officials had said.

So far, police have recorded statements of over a dozen persons, including a witness and videographer, Rohan Aher, who was inside the studio during the hostage situation.

Officials have also recorded the statements of assistant inspector Amol Waghmare, the complainant in the case, and a senior officer of the Powai police station. However, statements of the parents of the children who were held hostage, the actors who visited the studio, and some senior officers were yet to be recorded.

Police have seized various items, including the gun Arya had used to threaten police, chemical bottles, and clothes from the studio, and sent them to a forensic science laboratory for analysis, the officials added.