Mumbai Filmmaker Holds 17 Children Hostage in Fake Web Series Scene

Mumbai: The hostage crisis' ‘script' was apparently readied over a month. The 17 children had their hands tied and mouths taped at the Powai recording studio on Thursday, but everyone went along with it for hours believing that a "hostage scene" for a web series was being shot.Panic set in only after the captor, Rohit Aarrya, pulled out a gun and a rod and threatened to kill them, reveal chilling accounts from victims.Police said he came prepared—rags sprayed with some chemical were placed randomly around the duplex studio and on the floor to start a fire in case things went south, motion detectors were installed on the main door and moving cameras set up on all floors.A Powai police officer said Aarrya had read out his web series script to 23 selected children and their parents during the audition of 36 hopefuls and had convinced the participants that a hostage scene was to be filmed on the last day of the five-day shoot."Only 17 of the 23 children attended preparations at the studio for four days," he said. These "preparations" lulled the eight boys and the nine girls aged 10-15 who walked into the studio at 8am on Thursday into a false sense of safety.You Can Also Check:Mumbai AQI|Weather in Mumbai|Gold Rate Today in Mumbai|Silver Rate Today in MumbaiA few hours later, some children sensed something amiss and began screaming. That, said a senior police officer, annoyed Aarrya. "He began waving an airgun and an iron rod at us, screaming that he would kill us all," said one of the girls."It was only then that we realised this was no longer fiction."A senior police officer said the children were found with their mouths taped and some with their hands tied at the time of rescue. They were also denied food for hours since Aarrya kept moving them from room to room. "While negotiating over the phone, we could hear the children in his custody screaming and crying out in fear. He was watching us from behind the closed sliding glasses that had dark curtains.In between, he would run back into the room and drag five children out," said another officer.He reportedly brought out children in various batches. "This continued for almost two hours," said the officer.At least 15 victims were confined to one room on the upper floor. "The studio consists of two floors—sort of a duplex flat. There are two rooms with a narrow passage and a small hall on below floor while on the upper floor there are two rooms, a small hall, a narrow passage and a toilet," said the officer.It is alleged that Aarrya walked around with a petrol can to threaten children kept in one room. One of the girls' 75-year-old grandmother was also trapped inside.Aarrya's production assistant, Rohan Aher, was kept in one room and threatened at gunpoint, said police. Aher told police that was unaware of the real hostage plan. Aarrya was listed as the producer, scriptwriter and planner of the web series.Aher said he communicated with some of the police officers through a window while Aarrya was in a different room talking with police and the children's parents."We didn't know that he was carrying a weapon and inflammable materials till Thursday."Aarrya had recorded a video in which he said he had abandoned thoughts of suicide and planned the hostage situation to have "demands" fulfilled. Police's probe shows that the video was sent via WhatsApp to two acquaintances he had befriended during the auditions. Another Powai police officer said the two acquaintances received the video around 1.45pm on Thursday and informed police.A team reached the hostage site by 2.15pm.The entire rescue operation that began with negotiations culminated in Aarrya's death by 4pm. Additional commissioner of police Paramjit Dahiya, DCP Datta Nalawade and senior inspector Jitendra Sonawane interacted with Aarrya throughout the ordeal."Initially, Aarrya spoke with a Powai police senior inspector over the window and asked him to share his number. He then made a video call to the senior inspector for discussions. He wanted police to come to the spot and kept a watch on the movement through the moving cameras," said an officer.Police also made Aarrya speak to some parents, including those of two kids who had a history of seizures and another who was ill, in the hopes that he would see reason and end the siege. "But that made no difference. He stayed adamant."