Overview
- Rohit Arya, identified by police as the captor, died in hospital from a chest wound after Assistant Police Inspector Amol Waghmare fired a single shot during the rescue.
- Seventeen children and two adults were rescued unhurt from RA Studio in the Mahavir Classic building after a roughly three-hour operation that included entries via a bathroom vent and a cut glass wall.
- Police say Arya lured children to a staged audition, installed motion sensors and other devices, and threatened to set the studio on fire in a video where he insisted he was not seeking money.
- Investigators recovered an air gun, chemicals and other materials from the studio; the weapon and additional evidence have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
- Police are probing Arya’s background and motive, including his claim of about ₹2 crore in unpaid education-project dues that the Maharashtra government has publicly contested.