 "Rohit Arya, who was reportedly armed, claimed he had been 'wronged' by the Maharashtra government and threatened to set the studio on fire if his demands were not met. he was shot dead by Mumbai Police during a dramatic operation Image courtesy: News18")
The dramatic hostage crisis in Mumbai’s Powai kept the city on edge for hours after a man, identified as Rohit Arya, held 17 children and two others captive inside a film studio.
The tense standoff came to an end on Tuesday afternoon when Mumbai Police stormed the studio and safely rescued everyone. Arya, who was reportedly armed and claimed he had been “wronged” by the Maharashtra government, was shot during the operation and later declared dead.
Police reportedly believe the shocking act stemmed from Arya’s long-standing dispute with the state over alleged unpaid dues. Before the rescue operation, he had released a chilling video threatening to set the studio on fire if his demands were not met, insisting that he wanted to “speak to certain people.”
So, what drove Rohit Arya to take such a drastic step? Here’s what we know about him.
Who was Rohit Arya?
Rohit Arya , a YouTuber and schoolteacher from Nagpur who originally hailed from Pune, was the man at the centre of the Powai hostage crisis. He had won a tender for a school project linked to the education department during the time Deepak Kesarkar was Education Minister, a contract that later turned into a bitter dispute for him, India Today reported.
Arya worked at RA Studios and used that connection to set up a fake audition for a web series, calling in around 100 students. After letting most go, he kept 17 children and two adults inside the studio, placing some on the ground floor and others on the first floor.
In a video he released after taking the hostages, Arya said he simply wanted to “speak to certain people” and made vague references to “moral demands” without specifying them. “I’m not a terrorist, nor do I demand a lot of money, and I certainly don’t want anything immoral,” he said.
As police moved in to handle the situation, officers noticed hands at a studio window and described the captor as appearing mentally unstable.
Arya told negotiators the hostage-taking was part of a deliberate plan. “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 warned.
He also threatened that any “slightest wrong move” by the police would provoke him, and said he should not be held responsible for what followed.
When negotiations broke down, police forced entry through a bathroom by using hydraulic tools to cut grills. According to officials, Arya fired at officers while using the children as human shields. He was wounded in the return fire, taken to the hospital, and later pronounced dead.
Also read: How Mumbai hostage crisis ended with rescue of 17 children, death of kidnapper
What triggered Arya?
Arya’s hostage drama, investigators say, grew out of a long-running fight with the Maharashtra government over credit and money for a school development project called “Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala.”
According to India Today, he believed the scheme was built on an idea of his, a concept tied to his film Let’s Change, and that officials later used his plan without giving him any recognition or payment.
He repeatedly said the state “used me to complete the work, but after that, they tried to suppress me,” and accused officials of implementing his idea under the education programme from 2022 while denying his contribution. “They didn’t give me credit or money; they simply disowned my whole existence,” he had said.
Frustrated and desperate for answers, Arya staged several protests and even went on a month-long hunger strike. At one point, then-Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar reportedly told him his demands would be addressed, but the matter stalled after then Joint Secretary Tushar Mahajan allegedly told him he had “done some mistakes,” and that no action would follow until enquiries were complete.
“On the night of August 3, Minister Deepak Kesarkar came to meet me at my home, understood my concerns, said I was not wrong, and assured me that everything would be resolved August 5. He asked me to end my hunger strike, and I respected his request,” he had alleged.
“But on August 7, it became clear that the minister’s assurances were false. On August 9, I met the minister again; he once more promised to set things right. However, Mahajan, the Joint Secretary of the School Education Department, told me that a mistake had occurred on my part and that no action could be taken until an enquiry was completed,” he added.
Arya named specific officials in his public statements and warned of consequences if nothing changed. “If I commit suicide, then Deepak Kesarkar, his personal secretary Mangesh Shinde, then education commissioner Suraj Mandhare, Tushar Mahajan, and Sameer Sawant will be responsible for it,” he is reported to have said.
He also claimed to have launched the Swachhta Monitor concept in Maharashtra in 2023, another initiative he says was rolled out without due credit or payment to him.
Maharashtra government responds
The Maharashtra government has rejected Arya’s allegations, saying that the expenditure details he submitted were “vague and exaggerated” and that his proposed projects lacked technical clarity and proper documentation, according to India Today.
In an official release, the government clarified that Arya’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) project, Swachhta Monitor, was approved only once, in 2021, with a grant of Rs 9 lakh.
Officials said that in 2023–24, the Education Department sanctioned Rs 2 crore under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala (My School, Beautiful School) campaign to conduct the second phase of the Swachhta Monitor project. However, Arya’s project report and spending details were found to be “unclear and inflated.”
Hence, his later proposals, Swachhta Monitor 2.0 and a Rs 6.14 crore plan for 2024–25, were never sanctioned.
“The components, such as advertising, management costs, technical support, and expenses for online distribution of the film Let’s Change were found to be vague and exaggerated. No clear details were provided about assessment metrics, operational guidelines, or compliance with minimum standards,” the government note said.
Despite this, the government maintained that Arya’s organisation continued to operate privately, without authorisation or approval to collect funds from schools.
“The government has no financial or administrative responsibility for the project, and Arya’s death is unrelated to the department,” the statement said.
With input from agencies