MUMBAI: A 45-year-old documentary filmmaker from Pune held 17 children, aged 12-15, a 75-year-old woman and his staffer hostage for two hours at a recording studio in Powai Thursday afternoon after calling them for auditions for a web series. The crisis ended after a police commando team stormed the studio following failed negotiations and shot him in the chest purportedly in self-defence after he fired from an air gun. He was declared dead in hospital.The hostage drama played out after the captor, Rohit Aarrya, who had been living in a relative’s flat in Chembur for the past few days, released a video saying he wanted “simple answers” to some questions and threatened to set the place ablaze if there was any move made to challenge him. In the clip, which was circulated to many media outlets, he said he was not a terrorist and only wanted “to be heard”. “Instead of dying by suicide, I have held some children hostage,” he said.
Police officials said they spent nearly two hours trying to negotiate with Aarrya and gauge his demands, but he refused to cooperate, even after one of the girls’ parents said she suffered from seizures.
‘Police’s response was measured, safety of those held captive was priority’
An official said Rohit Aarrya appeared calm when police spoke to him, but at no stage did he elaborate on his motives. City police commissioner Deven Bharti maintained that Aarrya fired first, prompting retaliatory police firing. “Regardless of his demands, we couldn’t let him play with lives. He fired first at police. Our team fired back in self-defence. There was no other option.” Other officials reiterated that the safety of those held captive was the top priority, adding that the police team’s response was measured and as per the protocol.The death prompted calls by legal experts for a magisterial inquiry, as laid down by law, to verify the claim of retaliatory police firing.While Aarrya did not elaborate on his motive in the video or during police’s attempts at negotiations, it emerged that Aarrya had sat on a hunger strike against former school education minister Deepak Kesarkar of Shiv Sena in 2024 over alleged dues of Rs 2 crore for a state-sanctioned school cleanliness project. Kesarkar said he personally gave him some money as a “gesture of sympathy” even though the school education department maintained that Aarrya had collected payment directly from some children. He said Aarrya should have taken up the issue with the department instead of holding children hostage.The city crime branch took over the probe. Those rescued were taken to SevenHills Hospital for medical examination.
