"Tricked Children For Film Shoot, Locked Doors": Witness Narrates Mumbai Hostage Ordeal

A horrifying hostage situation in Mumbai ended on Thursday when police successfully rescued 19 people, including 17 children, from the clutches of accused filmmaker Rohit Arya, who was shot dead during the operation.

Eyewitness and victim Mangal Patankar, a grandmother from Kolhapur, shared chilling details of the ordeal. She recalled how the children were taken hostage.

Patankar revealed that Arya had tricked children into the studio under the pretext of a shoot at his studio, RA Studios.

Patankar, who is currently admitted to the hospital, said she had travelled from Kolhapur to Mumbai with her granddaughter for an audition and trusted the organisers because the school arranged it.

Parents were also invited to the same event. After the audition, Arya told them that the actual shooting would happen two days later.

Initially, he behaved politely and even provided food and drinks for the children. However, on Wednesday, he began acting suspiciously and instructed all the children, aged between 8 and 14, to go inside a room, while telling their parents to wait outside.

He locked the gate from outside and took some of the children to the first floor of the studio.

The eyewitness further revealed that Arya separated the children based on their financial backgrounds, keeping rich and poor children in different rooms. Patankar suspects others may have also been involved in the conspiracy.

He reportedly planned scenes such as running, kidnapping, and bomb blasts under the pretext of filming. CCTV cameras were removed and replaced with indoor lights, and the studio was locked, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

Patankar said Arya carried a gun and repeatedly showed it to the children. She was forced to stay with the children and ensure they did not escape. During the hostage crisis, parents outside the studio were seen crying, while Arya and his associates, including a woman named Priyanka and a man named Deshmukh from Nanded, reportedly laughed and made calls.

The standoff ended on Thursday afternoon when a commando and police team rescued all hostages.

The police stated that during the rescue operation, Arya fired an air gun at them, which made the officers fire a single round in response.

The bullet hit Arya on the right side of his chest, and he died during treatment. His post-mortem is being conducted at the JJ hospital.