Overview
- Police received a distress call around 1:45 pm and deployed Powai and Sakinaka units with the Quick Response Team, bomb squad and fire brigade to the R A Studio site.
- The suspect, identified as Rohit Arya, had called minors to the studio over several days for auditions, according to officials and eyewitnesses.
- Before the breach, Arya posted a video asserting “moral” and “ethical” demands, denying any financial or terror motive, and threatening to set the place on fire if provoked.
- Negotiations stalled and officers forced entry through a bathroom, recovering an airgun and chemicals as they rescued 17 children and two adults who were then handed to guardians.
- Arya was shot during the rescue and later died in hospital, and police say forensic tests and background checks are underway, including scrutiny of his unpaid-dues allegations and the studio’s practices.