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Reel became real: How Rohit Arya's ‘hostage shoot’ in Mumbai turned into real-life tragedy
Rohit Arya took 17 children and two adults hostage inside R A Studio in Powai on Thursday before being shot dead by police during a rescue operation.
What was meant to be a film shoot turned into a chilling real-life nightmare at a Mumbai studio on Thursday, after a man named Rohit Arya, who told his crew that he was going to shoot a hostage scene, held 17 people captive in a Powai building.
According to Arya's longtime videographer Rohan Aher, Arya had told his crew they were going to shoot a hostage drama involving children -- a storyline that mirrored the horrific events that unfolded hours later.
Arya took 17 children and two adults hostage inside R A Studio in Powai on Thursday before being shot dead by police during a rescue operation.
Videographer Rohan Aher, who had been working with Arya for the last 10 years and was a prime witness during the three-hour drama, recounted the sequence of events before the media.
None of the team members, Aher said, had any inkling that he was planning a real-life situation which was to end in a tragedy.
On Wednesday, Arya told him that they were going to shoot a hostage situation involving children, Aher said. Arya also asked him to bring five litres of petrol and firecrackers for the shoot, but Aher did not follow the instructions, as there were going to be children in the studio, he said.
But by Thursday morning, the line between reel and real had vanished. When Aher reached the studio, he was told no one was allowed upstairs. Arya later appeared, asking him to lock all entry points, claiming they were about to shoot a fire scene. Moments later, Arya poured the rubber solution and set it ablaze in front of terrified children.
Arya also asked him to lock the gate and all the studio's entry points. Subsequently, Arya poured the rubber solution and set it on fire in front of the children, he said.
Aher and others were scared and asked him not to do it, so Arya, wielding an air gun, asked Aher to stay away. Aher ran out of the studio and told the people standing outside they should call the police, he said.
He then went upstairs and broke a glass window of the studio with a hammer (in an attempt to rescue the children inside), sustaining an injury to his hand, Aher said, adding that Arya sprayed pepper spray into his eyes, making him fall down the staircase.
Police arrived soon after and began negotiating with Arya. Aher managed to sneak in and guide several children to safety, but four remained trapped when gunfire erupted. Arya was shot in the chest and declared dead at the hospital.
