Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 30: More than 20 children held hostage believed to be by a mentally unstable person in a local acting studio in Powai locality in Mumbai have been rescued by the police and fire brigade teams on Thursday afternoon and handed over to their respective guardians, the police said.
Panic gripped the locality after the man allegedly took children captive at studio in broad daylight, prompting a massive police operation. A mentally challenged man has been detained after he took students hostage inside the studio, said Senior Inspector of Powai Police, Jeevan Sonawane.
He added that the suspect wanted to speak to former Maharashtra education minister Deepak Kesarkar over certain issues he claimed to have with the department.
The accused who identified himself as Rohit Arya in a video message released before the incident said he had chosen hostage-taking instead of suicide in order to force conversations with unspecified people. “I am Rohit Arya. Instead of dying by suicide, I have made a plan and am holding some children hostage here,” he said, listing what he described as “simple demands, moral demands, ethical demands, and a few questions.” He warned that “the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me” and threatened to set the place on fire, adding that he did not seek money and was “not a terrorist”.
“I want simple conversations, and that’s why I’ve taken these children hostage. I’ve held them hostage as part of a plan. If I live, I’ll do it; if I die, someone else will, but it will definitely happen because the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me to set this whole place on fire and die in it,” Arya said in the video.
Police said they mounted a rapid response after the video circulated and managed to secure the children shortly after they were held hostage. All of those taken were removed from the location. According to police sources, the children, including boys and girls aged around 15, had been invited to the RA studio, located on the ground floor of a building in Powai, for a film “audition.” Police have recovered what appears to be an air gun and some chemicals from the location.
Police said they mounted a rapid response after the video circulated and managed to secure the children shortly after they were held hostage. All of those taken were removed from the location.
According to the police, the cops received a distress call around 1:45 pm. A team was immediately deployed, which began negotiations with the accused. When he refused to release the children, the police conducted a forced entry through the bathroom and rescued the children who were inside. The motive behind the hostage-taking remains unclear. Further investigation into the case underway.
According to the station officer of the Mumbai fire brigade Abhijit Sonwane, the department received a call from the police around 3 pm and rushed to the spot. “We cut open the grills with our hydraulic tools and made access for police. They entered inside and now all are rescued.” According to authorities, all the children have been safely rescued and handed over to their guardians. The officials added that further details will be shared after due verification.
Mumbai Police told the media, “a man, identified as Rohit Arya, has held a few children hostage in Powai area of Mumbai.” They added that Arya had released a video in which he purportedly claimed he wanted to speak with certain people and threatened to “set everything on fire and harm himself and the children” if his demands were not met prompting the authorities to launch a rescue operation.
Jeevan Sonawane, Senior police inspector of Powai police station, said 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,” Mr Sonawane said.
The rescue operation involved coordinated efforts by the Mumbai Police and the Fire Brigade, lasting over an hour.
