The incident occurred at around 1:30 pm on Thursday when a man, identified as Rohit Arya (50), locked the children—aged between 10 and 12 years—inside R A Studio located in the Mahavir Classic building
Pic/PTI
R A Studio has expressed deep relief and gratitude following Thursday’s dramatic hostage situation at its Powai premises, where 16 children and one adult were held captive for nearly three hours before being rescued safely by Mumbai Police.
In an official statement, the studio on Friday said: “We recently faced an unexpected and distressing situation at our studio during a third-party reservation. We're deeply relieved that everyone, especially the children and parents, were safe thanks to the swift response of Mumbai Police. Our team has been fully cooperative with authorities and has already strengthened our on-site safety measures. We remain committed to providing a safe, professional, and creative space for all artists.”
The incident occurred at around 1:30 pm on Thursday when a man, identified as Rohit Arya (50), locked the children—aged between 10 and 12 years—inside R A Studio located in the Mahavir Classic building. The children had gathered for auditions for a web series that had been taking place for two days.
According to police, Arya had been conducting auditions at the studio for nearly a week. Parents grew alarmed when the children failed to return during the lunch break, prompting them to alert the authorities.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade told PTI, “At about 1.30 pm, Powai police station received information that a person had taken 16 children hostage. A rescue operation was launched, and all children were safely freed. During the operation, the accused sustained injuries and was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead.”
The three-hour standoff ended at around 4:15 pm, when police successfully rescued the hostages. Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satyanarayan confirmed, “All the children are safe.”
Arya, who was reportedly carrying an air gun and certain chemicals, released a video before the police operation in which he said he had “simple, ethical demands” and was “not a terrorist.” He warned that any “wrong move” by authorities could endanger the children, claiming he wanted to “talk to some people” rather than harm anyone.
A multi-agency response team — including the Quick Response Team (QRT), National Security Guard (NSG), Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, and the fire brigade — was deployed. When negotiations failed, police entered the studio through a first-floor window with the help of a fire brigade ladder and safely rescued all hostages.
Police later confirmed that Arya had worked as a project director under a state education department initiative called Project Let’s Change, which ran the Swachhta Monitor campaign between July and October 2023, involving 64,000 schools and nearly 59 lakh students.
Former Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar said Arya had previously approached him over pending dues. “I had given him financial help out of courtesy. The education department had sought an explanation from him after he allegedly collected money directly from students through a website,” Kesarkar said, reported PTI.
Arya had also staged a protest in Pune last year over the same issue, during which he suffered a medical emergency.
The Mumbai Police have launched a detailed investigation into Arya’s motives and the circumstances leading up to the incident. Meanwhile, R A Studio has assured that it has enhanced safety measures and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.
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