Mumbai Police on Thursday (30th October) shot dead a 50-year-old man, Rohit Arya, who had taken 17 children hostage at an audition theatre in Powai. He recorded a video, which went viral on social media, after taking the children hostage. In the video, he claimed that he chose to take the children hostage instead of dying by suicide over some unpaid dues that the Maharashtra education department owed him. He said that his demands were “simple, moral and ethical” and that he wanted to speak to certain people to recover a due of ₹2 crore owed him.
As per reports, the incident happened at RA Studios in Powai’s Mahavir Classik commercial-cum-residential building. Rohit Arya had lured the children to the studio in the name of an audition. When the children, who came from different parts of Maharashtra, arrived at the studio, he locked them inside.
A team of police arrived at the scene after receiving a distress call at Powai Police Station in the afternoon on the day of the incident. Police tried to negotiate with Arya, but he refused to release the children. Police made a forced entry into the building through the bathroom after he threatened to harm the children.
Following a 3.5-hour-long operation to rescue the children, Arya got hit on the right side of his chest by a bullet fired by the Mumbai Police at him, the police reportedly fired in retaliation after he tried to shoot at the police personnel. Arya was taken to JJ Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The children were rescued unharmed. Police recovered the air gun and some chemical containers from the scene.
Who was Rohit Arya, and what were his allegations
Rohit Arya, a native of Pune, was allegedly not paid by his firm for the work he did for the Swachhta Monitor Project under the Chief Minister’s ‘My School, Beautiful School’ campaign. He is said to have held protests on the same issue in Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur.
Arya alleged that the state education department had sanctioned ₹2 crore for his work, but the amount was not paid to him. He went on a hunger strike twice in 2024, accusing officials of sidelining him from the programme despite personal assurances from then Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar. He claimed that he was issued two cheques of ₹7 lakh and ₹8 lakh as personal assistance by Kesarkar, who promised to pay more later. But the promised amount never reached him, as alleged by Arya.
In May this year, Rohit Arya came to protest in front of a Minister’s bungalow at Malabar Hill, but he was detained by the Malabar Hill police. He was in contact with several news channels and journalists, who he is said to have forwarded his video to on Thursday as well.
Former state Education Minister denies Arya’s allegations
Responding to the incident on Thursday, Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar said that he has asked Arya to conduct a cleanliness awareness programme, Swachhata Monitor, on a pilot basis, during his tenure as the State Education Minister from 2022 to 2024. He added that after Arya alleged that the state education department was withholding money owed to him, he personally gave him some money. However, he questioned Arya’s claim regarding unpaid dues by the state government. “I personally helped him and gave him a cheque from my account. His claim that Rs 2 crore remains unpaid does not seem accurate. Government payments are made only after completion of all formalities and documentation,” Kesarkar said.
“He was running a scheme called Swachhta Monitor. He had participated in the government’s campaign. The department said he had directly collected fees from some children. But Rohit Arya said he had not collected any such fee. He should have spoken to the department and resolved the issue instead of taking such an extreme step. Holding children hostage is wrong. Government funds are never withheld if the proper process is followed,” he added.
Maharashtra Education Secretary Ranjit Singh Deol reportedly clarified that there was no agreement to pay ₹2 crore to Rohit Arya for the project. “He volunteered for the work and was awarded a certificate for his work. Subsequently, he was in discussions with the government to implement the ‘My Shala, Sundar Shala’ programme, but that failed to materialise. The Maharashtra government does not owe Rohit Arya any dues,” Deol said.
Maharashtra Education Department issues clarification
The Maharashtra State Education Department issued a statement on Thursday, offering a clarification on the issue. The Department said that Arya’s firm, Apsara Media Entertainment Network, was paid an amount of ₹9,90,000 for the Swachhta Monitor initiative in 2022. In the financial year 2023-24, an amount of ₹2 crore was approved for the implementation of another phase of the same project under the new initiative of Mazi Shala Sundar Shala (My School, Beautiful School), but the plan could not materialise because of an unacceptable proposal submitted by Arya to the government. Aryga approached the government again in 2024-25 with a proposed budget of over ₹2 crore for the implementation of the initiative. However, while his proposal was being considered, the government came to know that Arya collected registration fees from the schools without government approval.
Last year in August, the department asked Arya to deposit the money collected by him from schools in the name of the registration fee into a government account and then submit a detailed budget with relevant documents for further action. But he failed to do so.
