On 30th October, a man identified as Rohit Arya took 17 children, one senior citizen, and another adult hostage in the Powai area of Mumbai, Maharashtra. The children were lured to the building of RA Studio, where they were held hostage via an invite for an audition for an upcoming web series. All of the children were between the ages of 13 and 17.
VIDEO | Mumbai: Police rescue over 20 children who were held hostage inside a flat in Powai area. The suspect, who identified himself as Rohit Arya has been arrested, as per the officials.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 30, 2025
(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/EsQRqDuISi
Around 100 children went for the audition, out of which 17 were held hostage while the rest were let go. When they did not return, parents informed the police, and the whole saga unfolded. The police managed to rescue all the children quickly, and the accused was shot during the operation. He was apprehended and rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to bullet injuries.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Datta Nalawade, said his officers recovered air guns and some chemicals inside the studio. He also said the suspect was all alone. To get to the kids, the police had to force their way into the building through a bathroom. Before this, people outside had seen some of the scared children peeking out through the studio’s glass windows.
Notably, RA Studio regularly holds acting classes. He was an employee at the studio and also ran his own YouTube channel. For the past four or five days, he had apparently been holding auditions. On Thursday morning, about 100 kids arrived for the audition. He let around over 80 children leave but then locked 17 children and the two adults inside.
Arya posted a video message explaining why he did it. He stated that taking the children hostage was not a random act but a deliberate “plan” that he was determined to see through. He even warned that this plan would continue even if he were killed, implying others would take his place.
He justified his actions by claiming he was just a “normal common person” who only wanted to “talk” to find a “solution” for problems, he said. However, this was combined with a serious threat: he warned police that the slightest wrong move would trigger him to “set this entire place on fire and die in it.”
He attempted to shift the blame for any harm that came to the children. He said they would be “unnecessarily hurt” and “traumatised,” but that he should not be held “responsible.” Instead, he insisted that the people “triggering” him would be responsible. He promised that he would come out peacefully on his own “after his talks are over,” concluding with a final warning: “Please do not trigger me to do any harm to anybody.”
Arya sustained a bullet injury during the stand-off with the Mumbai Police. Prima facie, according to the police, the matter was related to some work-related pending payments; however, the exact reason is still unclear.
After he was apprehended and the children were rescued, Arya was taken to the hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
