A tense situation unfolded in Mumbai’s Powai on Thursday when 17 children were taken hostage at RA Studio, where acting auditions were being held. Police launched a swift operation, rescuing all the children safely after a standoff that lasted several hours. The accused, identified as Rohit Arya, a studio employee and YouTuber, was injured in an exchange of fire with police and later died during treatment. According to officials, Arya fired an air gun at officers, prompting them to return one round. All children, aged between 8 and 14, were rescued unharmed and later medically examined.
Police said Arya had been conducting auditions for several days and on Thursday allowed around 80 children to leave but confined 17 inside. When police arrived following a distress call at around 1:45 pm, Arya refused to release them and threatened to harm the children. Officers then broke in through a bathroom and freed the hostages. “The operation was conducted swiftly and with utmost caution to ensure the children’s safety,” said a senior officer. The air gun and chemical containers used to threaten officers were recovered from the scene.
Before the incident, Arya released a video saying he chose hostage-taking “instead of dying by suicide,” claiming his act was a protest against “systemic betrayal” by officials. “I am Rohit Arya. Instead of dying by suicide, I have made a plan and am holding some children hostage here,” he said, insisting he was “not a terrorist” and sought only “moral accountability.” He claimed the education department owed him Rs 2 crore for his ‘PLC Sanitation Monitor Project’ under the Chief Minister’s My School, Beautiful School campaign and alleged he was sidelined despite assurances from then Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar. Police are verifying his claims and reviewing CCTV footage to trace the full sequence of events.
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