Man takes over a dozen children hostage in Powai; suspect killed, say cops

Over a dozen children were held hostage by a man inside a studio in the Powai area of Mumbai following which the police officials rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation on Thursday afternoonldquoAll the children are safe and have been rescuedrdquo said Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Choudhary adding that the children have been handed over to their guardiansSources said that the children were rescued after a tense hourlong standoff at R A Studio located near the LampT building in Powai area of suburban MumbaiThe suspect was identified as Rohit Arya police saidHe reportedly refused to negotiate with the police and attempted violently towards the cops during negotiations and was later killed in retaliation by the police sources saidAfter the police action Arya was rushed to the Jogeshwari Trauma Centre where he was declared dead they saidAt around 130 pm Powai Police Station received information that a person had taken 17 children hostage at Mahavir Classic building in Powai The Mumbai Police team conducted a rescue operation and safely freed all the children During the operation while rescuing children the person got injured was immediately rushed to the hospital and was later declared dead Mumbai Police said in an official statement on ThursdaySources said that Aryas postmortem will be conducted on Friday at the JJ Hospital and it will be recorded by the police for further investigationsAccording to preliminary information from sources the group of boys and girls all around 15 years of age had been invited to the studio for an lsquoauditionrsquo The situation escalated when Arya allegedly locked the children inside and began livestreaming a video on social mediaView this post on InstagramA post shared by midday middayindiaIn the video Arya can be seen saying that he wanted to speak to certain people and ask them questions insisting that he did not want money He threatened to set fire to the studio if his demands were not metPolice negotiators and rescue teams acted swiftly managing to bring all the children out safely and detain the man sources saidAn investigation into Aryarsquos motives and mental condition was underway they saidAccording to the official sources Rohit Arya was a Punebased contractor He was allegedly under severe mental stress over nonpayment of dues amounting to around Rs 2 crores for a government school project He had allegedly staged protests and even a hunger strike outside the residence of a former education minister to demand his pending paymentA total of 17 children 1 senior citizen and 1 civilian was successfully rescued by the Powai Police said an officialMeanwhile the Mumbai Fire Brigade which assisted the police in rescue of the children said On Thursday afternoon 16 children and a woman were taken hostage The incident was reported at 325 pm saying that an unknown man held the hostages on the first floor of the tenstorey building The Mumbai Fire Brigade immediately responded keeping precautionary equipment such as a PRT kit Weber rescue tools and a small charged hose line ready MFB also provided access to police personnel by pitching a ladder to the firstfloor window Police and MFB successfully rescued all 16 children and the woman safelyIt said that the suspect was declared dead at 515 pm The situation has now been brought under control and authorities are investigating the motive behind the incident