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Housing society to civic bus: Times when a hostage crisis shook Mumbai
The police on Thursday conducted a three-hour long operation and successfully rescued several children from captivity in Mumbai's Powai area.
Sixteen children and a woman were held hostage for three hours in Mumbai's Powai area on Thursday, following which authorities launched a rescue operation.
The situation, which caused panic in its wake, took place at the RA Studio near the L&T building during afternoon. The children – boys and girls aged 11 and 12 – had been called to the studio for an ‘audition’ for a web series which had been ongoing for two days, PTI news agency reported.
The police received an alert regarding a person, identified as Rohit Arya (50), taking the 17 children hostage at around 1.30 pm. The cops successfully rescued the children, with the accused dying from a bullet injury sustained during police action.
14-yr-old killed in captivity in a housing society
While the city has not witnessed such a situation, wherein a group of children were taken hostage, in recent times, Mumbai is no stranger to hostage-taking scenarios.
In March 2010, Harish Marolia, a retired customs officer, took a 14-year-old girl hostage in his flat in a housing society in suburban Andheri (West), PTI news agency reported.
Marolia, 60, held the girl captive in his flat following an argument with the members of his society where the both resided, an official told PTI.
Marolia had reportedly objected to some construction work being done on one of the floors in his building minutes before he took the girl hostage. He had also threatened the housing society’s secretary by firing in the air.
The captivity reached a violent end after Marolia killed the teenager and was eventually shot dead by the police.
Gunman held civic-run bus hostage after anti-migrant agitation
In November 2008, a 25-year-old gunman held commuters hostage in a civic-run double-decker bus which had started from Andheri, PTI reported. The gunman, identified as Rahul Raj, was a native of Bihar.
When the bus reached Kurla's Bail Bazar, nearly 100 policemen surrounding the vehicle and asked Raj to surrender.
However, the 25-year-old threw a currency note at them, on which he had written that he had come to “kill” Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. Thackeray had earlier led an anti-migrant agitation in the city. The police eventually shot dead the accused.
Most important to save lives, ensure minimum damage: Cop on hostage crises
Shalini Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, told PTI that during hostage situations, the most important thing is to save lives and ensure minimum damage. “Negotiations are done keeping these two objectives in mind,” Sharma said.
Sharma was the first woman officer from the Mumbai police to be sent to London for a training on handling hostage situations, following the 26/11 terror attacks.
“When there is no headway in negotiations (with the hostage-taker), the operation team takes decisions as per the need of the time,” Sharma told PTI.
In the Andheri hostage situation in 2010, Sharma had been called in to negotiate with Marolia. However, by then, the police team had entered the flat where the girl was being held captive.
In 2022, Sharma had been called to train the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos to successfully handle hostage scenarios.
The police officer has, in 2013 and 2017, saved two women who were trying to end their lives by talking and convincing them not to do so.
Sharma was posted as a senior police inspector in Nagpada and handled the anti-CAA and NRC protests in Mumbai through talks, according to the PTI report.
