Stocked food to CCTV, Mumbai hostage-taker eyed long siege

Chilling twist, though, comes from the story Aarya told children, his assistant – he wanted to make short film on children rebelling against corruption.

The terrifying hostage situation that played out in Mumbai on Thursday was meticulously planned by the now deceased hostage-taker and short filmmaker, Rohit Aarrya, who held 17 teenagers captive in a studio while shooting a web series.

Aarrya had stocked flammable liquid in RA Studio on Saki Vihar Road. (PTI)

Aarrya had stockpiled food for the children in the event of a long-drawn drama. He also got a broken latch on the studio’s door repaired, and installed CCTV cameras at strategic points on the premises, so that footage would be streamed to his smart phone; he was not privy to the feed of the pre-installed surveillance cameras.

The really chilling twist, though, comes from the story Aarya told the children and his assistant – that he wanted to make a short film on children rebelling against corruption, and there was a scene in which children would be kidnapped, Rohan Raj said Aher said in his statement to the Mumbai police team investigating the case. This, Aarrya hoped, would be a smokescreen for the preparations he was making for the actual hostage situation that was to unfold a couple of days later.

Aarrya had stocked flammable liquid in RA Studio on Saki Vihar Road. “He had asked me to bring 5 litres petrol and fire-crackers as well,” said Aher, who worked as a theatre trainer with Aarrya on this assignment.

Police said Aarrya had told the children and Aher that he was shooting a reel of a kidnapping and hostage situation.

“While our studio booking had ended on Wednesday, Aarrya had spoken to the owner and asked for a day’s extension. He told me they needed to give the children acting lessons for one more day,” said Aher.

The crime branch investigating the case, in which police shot Aarrya dead while defusing the hostage crisis, recorded Aher’s statement on Friday. Police also took him to the crime scene on Friday, to recreate the sequence of events.

“I had been working with Aarrya since 2012. He had worked with various big TV channels and had gained my confidence,” said Aher.

“We were out of touch for a long time, but he called me recently and offered me this assignment. He told me he wanted to make a short film on children’s rebellion against corruption and there was a scene in which children would be kidnapped,” said Aher.

Sachin Jadhav, a farmer from Kolhapur, whose daughter was one of the hostages, said shooting began on Sunday, October 26. “We had got a call from Aarrya to join him on the 25th. We had sent my daughter’s video via WhatsApp and he approved. She had already worked in various short films,” said Jadhav.

Jadhav’s mother-in-law, Mangala Patankar, 77, was also held hostage with the children as she had accompanied them to the shoot. When the crisis broke, she locked most of the children in a room, gave them food and water, and kept them calm.

“For three days, everything was fine. The children would come to the studio daily, at around 9am. The lunch break was at 1.30pm, and shooting would end at 5pm,” said Patankar.

Jadhav said that on Tuesday or Wednesday, things seemed different. Aarrya started covering the studio’s windows with black paper and stuck photos of the children on it. He told us the sunlight was hampering the shoot.

“On Thursday, he told the parents he was to shoot a kidnapping scene and even covered the children’s faces with tape,” said a police officer. “But when the children didn’t emerge for lunch and started feeling hungry and 1.50pm, he sent a video to one of the parents, declaring that all the children inside had been held hostage,” the officer added.

Jadhav added, “I immediately called my mother-in-law, who told me that our daughter was with her. She had also locked the other children in another room,” said Jadhav.

“They got afraid, seeing what’s was happening. Aarrya was busy doing negotiations. He had spread an inflammable solution in the studio,” said Patankar, adding that she took the children with her in a room and locked them for their safety He had brought a lot of food for the children.

Aher, although inside, was locked on the ground floor of the studio, while the drama unfolded on the first floor.

“I didn’t have keys to open the door. Those were with Aarrya. Neither I could enter the first floor as there was glass door, but I broke some parts of it and suffered injuries. When I broke the glass door, Aarrya threatened me with the air gun. I also noticed that he had poured the rubber solution which is required for tyre puncture on a clothes which we usually use for small fires in shootings. He had kept four children nearby it and threatened he could ignite it with a lighter,” said Aher.

Aher then went down and pushed the iron grill through which he started speaking to the police personnel from the Powai police station.

“I told them the situation and that there were two ways to enter the studio - through toilet windows on the ground and the first floor. They could not open the ground floor toilet window, but succeeded in breaking the toilet window of the first floor with the help of the fire brigade and entered the first floor premises,” said Aher.

Aarrya had locked all the doors and the keys were with him, said the police.

“After Amol Waghmare and a constable entered via the window Aarrya raised the air gun towards them and therefore Waghmare was forced to fire at him and the bullet hit Aarrya on the right side of the chest,” said the police officer.

The police said they have registered an accidental death report relating to the death of Aarrya and it was being investigated by Mumbai Crime branch unit II.

“We have also registered an offence against Aarrya on the complaint of Waghmare under sections 109 attempt to murder, 140 kidnapping or abduction for murder, ransom, or other serious crimes and 287 negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023,” said the police officer.

“Our teams are understanding the crime scene and recorded the statements of the Aher in the studio itself to understand the crime scene. As per procedure we have also written to Judicial Magistrate and Collector as the injury is due to a firearm as they will have to do an inquiry in the matter,” said the crime branch officer.