NEW DELHI: Rohit Arya, repeatedly claimed that he only wanted to “have a conversation” with certain people, before he was shot dead by police in Mumbai’s Powai area on Thursday after he held several children hostage.The scary hostage situation unfolded as the 50-year-old held 17 children and two adults captive inside a studio. Mumbai police rescued 19 people, including 17 children, from a studio in Powai after a tense hour-long hostage standoff. Arya was shot when he allegedly tried to harm the children with an air gun and later died in hospital, officials said.Before the police entered the studio, Arya posted a video that circulated widely online in which he explained why he had taken the children and set out what he called his demands.
What Arya said in the chilling video
In the viral clip, Arya introduced himself and explained his plan in calm, measured terms. He began by saying he had chosen hostage-taking over suicide and framed his action as a means to demand answers:“I am Rohit Arya. Instead of (committing) suicide, I made a plan and have taken a few children hostage….I have very simple demands. Very moral, ethical demands. I have some questions. I want to speak to some people and on their answers, if there are any counter-questions, I want to ask them. But I want these answers. I do not want anything else. I am not a terrorist, nor do I have any demand of money. Want to make simple conversations.” He warned of consequences if provoked and insisted his motive was to force public answers: “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. It will happen to these children if they don’t suffer any harm.” He also threatened an extreme response to any “wrong move” : “The slightest wrong move from your end will trigger me to set this whole place on fire and die in it. Whether I die or not, the children will be unnecessarily hurt and traumatised definitely.” Arya denied responsibility for any harm should it occur and framed himself as a person seeking talk-based solutions: “If something happens to them, I shouldn’t be held responsible for it. Those who are unnecessarily triggering me should be held responsible, cause a normal person just wants to talk.” “I am going to provide a solution just by talking. Please don’t trigger me to do some harm to anybody,” he added.
The story behind
According to Mumbai Police, Rohit Arya had called several children including boys and girls around 15 years old to R A Studio in Powai’s Mahavir Classic building for what he claimed was an audition for a web series. The auditions had reportedly been taking place for the past two days.The situation turned grim around 1:30 pm on Thursday, when Powai police received a distress call about a man holding several people hostage inside the studio. A massive response followed — teams from the Quick Response Team (QRT), the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, and the fire brigade immediately rushed to the scene.“At about 1.30 pm, Powai police station received information that a person had taken 17 children hostage at Mahavir Classic building. The Mumbai Police team conducted a rescue operation and safely freed all the children. During the operation, while rescuing the children, the person got injured, was immediately rushed to the hospital and later declared dead,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade told PTI.Nalawade said the police initially tried to negotiate with Arya but were forced to act when talks failed. “It was a challenging operation, because we were negotiating with him without any positive outcome. To save the children’s lives was our priority,” he added.To reach the hostages, the police entered the studio through a bathroom window using a ladder provided by the fire brigade. In the operation, 17 children, a senior citizen, and another man were safely rescued.Officials said Arya was carrying an air gun and some chemicals. While police initially did not confirm that any firing took place during the rescue, Arya was declared dead at 5:15 pm at the hospital.Andheri MLA Murji Patel later visited the rescued children at Seven Hills Hospital. He said, “I met the children at the hospital they were safe.” As per reports Arya had been shooting with the group for five days and had not appeared to threaten or intimidate them before Thursday’s incident.
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