Police in Mumbai shot dead a 50-year-old man and freed 18 people, 17 of them children, whom he had allegedly taken hostage at a studio in Powai Thursday afternoon.
The incident took place at Ra Studio in Powai’s Mahavir Classik building. Police said the children, aged between 10 and 12 years, had come to the studio from different parts of Maharashtra for an audition when a man, later identified as Rohit Arya, allegedly locked them inside and threatened to harm them and himself.
Since last year, Arya, who hailed from Punehad been seeking payment of dues, claiming that the government had not paid his firm for work done for the Swachhta Monitor Project under the Chief Minister’s ‘My School, Beautiful School’ campaign. He had even held protests in Pune, mumbai and Nagpur.
During the rescue operation, police opened fire and a bullet hit Arya. Injured, he was taken to a hospital. Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Choudhary said Arya was declared dead.
Chaudhary said all the children were safe. “All 17 children have been safely rescued from the studio, and an investigation is on,” he said.
Quick Response Team (QRT) personnel come out of the building called Mahavir Classik where inside a studio called RA Studio a person named Rohit Arya kidnapped 17 children, at Powai in Mumbai on 30 October 2025.(Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
Another officer said the children aged between 10 to 12 years were at the studio for an audition. “Arya had been coming to the studio for four-five days,” the officer said.
On Thursday afternoon, Arya allegedly locked the children in a room and recorded a video stating, “Mujhe kuch logon se baat karni hai, mai Rohit Arya hoon (I would like to speak to a few people, I am Rohit Arya).” He warned that if he was not allowed to speak, he would “set everything on fire” and harm himself and the children, a police officer said.
Story continues below this ad
Police later found an air gun with which he had threatened the children. He had also stored some chemicals.
In the video, Arya said, “Instead of committing suicide, I made a plan and kept a few children hostage. I have a few moral and ethical demands. I want to speak to a few people and ask them questions. I want an answer… I am not a terrorist, and do not want money… I want a simple conversation and for that the children have been kept hostage… The slightest wrong move from your end will trigger me.”
Police personnel guard the building called Mahavir Classik where inside a studio called RA Studio a person named Rohit Arya kidnapped 17 children, at Powai in Mumbai on 30 October 2025. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
Police said he had installed motion sensors on the stairs leading to the studio and on the wall, and the sensors were connected to a mobile phone.
At 2.19 pm, Senior Inspector Jitendra Sonawane received a phone call from the Mahavir Classik building in Powai, alerting him about the situation.
Story continues below this ad
When police reached the nine-storey building, Sonawane saw children on the first floor, gesturing for help. “I tried talking to Arya. I shouted, asked him what he wanted. He asked me for my mobile number and then he called me,” he told The Indian Express.
Arya told Sonawane that he had lost money and had not been paid for work that he had done. Sonawane told him that all issues would be resolved and there was no need for any extreme step. He asked Arya to let him come up. “If you think I will do anything, I will tie my hands and come. Do whatever to me, but don’t do anything to the children,” Sonawane said he told him.
DCP Datta Nalawade too spoke to Arya and tried to convince him to let the children go.
While these two officers engaged Arya, two Fire Brigade personnel and two policemen entered the building from the rear.
Story continues below this ad
A Fire Brigade official said, “We placed a ladder near the bathroom window. While Arya was busy talking to the inspector, we cut the (window) grill.”
“We stepped back and let the two policemen enter the house. We heard a round being fired and that was the end of the operation,” the official said.
The students were freed and united with their parents. All of them were taken in a school bus to the hospital for treatment.
The father of one of the children said, “Usually, the children step out around 1 pm for lunch. On Thursday, when they did not come until 1.30 pm, all the parents there got worried. We realised what had happened when the children started shouting for help. We called the police.”
Story continues below this ad
Since last year, Arya had been demanding payment for work done. At a press conference in Pune last year, he alleged that the government had not paid his firm for the Swachhta Monitor Project work under the ‘My School, Beautiful School’ campaign.
He had staged a hunger strike and protested in Mumbai as well. At that time, School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar had said that the dues would be cleared as per rules.
In May this year, Arya came to Malabar Hill to protest outside a minister’s bungalow and had been detained by the Malabar Hill police station. He had been in touch with TV channels and had spoken about his charge against the government. On Thursday too, he sent a video to several journalists.
Following the incident, Kesarkar said he had personally made a cheque payment to Arya. He questioned Arya’s claim that the government owed him Rs 2 crore.
Story continues below this ad
Kesarkar said Arya’s Swachhta Monitor scheme was part of the state government’s ‘My School, Beautiful School’ scheme. “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 told the media.
“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 said.
In a statement, the Maharashtra School Education Department said Arya’s Apsara Media Entertainment Network was paid an amount of Rs 9,90,000 for the first phase of Swachhta Monitor initiative in 2022. However, in financial year 2023-24, plans to implement phase two of the same project under the new initiative of Mazi Shala Sundar Shala (My School, Beautiful School) was not implemented, despite approval of a fund of Rs 2 crore. This, according to the department, was because of an unacceptable proposal submitted by Arya to the government.
Subsequently, in 2024-25, Arya again approached the government with a proposed budget of Rs 2,41,81,000 for implementation of the initiative. While this proposal was under consideration, the department said that Arya had collected registration fees from schools without any approval from the government.
