Mumbai hostage crisis: Maharashtra government rejects accused Rohit Arya's pending dues claim

Mumbai:

Mumbai, India's financial capital, witnessed a hostage crisis on Thursday, drawing attention to Rohit Arya. 50-year-old Arya orchestrated the crisis, taking 19 people captive inside the RA Studio in the Mahavir Classic building in Mumbai. Among the hostages, there were 17 children mostly in the age group of 10 to 12 years. They were rescued by the police following three hours and Arya was eventually shot dead in an encounter.

"At about 1.30 pm, Powai police station received information that a person had taken 17 children hostage at Mahavir Classic building. The Mumbai Police team conducted a rescue operation and safely freed all the children. During the operation, while rescuing the children, the person got injured, was immediately rushed to the hospital and later declared dead," Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Who was Rohit Arya?

As per media reports, Arya completed his studies at the Symbiosis International University in Pune and later did his MBA from the Indian School of Business in Mumbai. Taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Arya started working with school children on the Swachh Bharat mission. He even had a company that focused on making videos on social issues, aiming to create an awareness about them.

The project Rohit Arya was part of

In October 2022, former Maharashtra Education Minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar inaugurated the Project Let's Change - PLA Swachhata Monitor under the 'Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala' initiative. Under this, school students were to act as Swachhta (cleanliness) monitors and discourage people from spitting and littering in public places.

Arya was made the project director for this from July 20 to October 2, 2023.

"I did not default on anyone's payment. I helped him through a cheque out of courtesy. The department was of the view that he took money directly from students by opening a website. The department has sought an explanation from him which was necessary," Kesarkar said, as reported by PTI.

Notably, in a video released earlier on Thursday, Arya also claimed that he did not want money and only wanted to speak to some officials. "I have very simple demands. Very moral, ethical demands. I have some questions... I want to speak to some people... I want these answers. I am not a terrorist, nor do I have any demand for money. (I) want to make simple conversations," he said, as reported by PTI.

What did the Maharashtra government say?

The Maharashtra government, however, on Thursday evening said the project was approved in 2021 with Rs 9 lakh funding and its later versions, including 'Swachhta Monitor 2.0', were never sanctioned. Despite this, Arya's organisation continue to collect funds from schools without approval, the government said in a statement.

"Despite this, the organisation continued its activities privately without approval or authorisation to collect funds from schools. The government has no financial or administrative responsibility for the project, and Arya’s death is unrelated to the department," the statement read.