From Andheri to Powai: Moments when Mumbai was held ‘hostage’

MUMBAI: Mumbai on Thursday witnessed a tense hostage crisis involving several children — a rare and unsettling situation for the metropolis — though the city has faced similar high-pressure standoffs in the past that ended in tragedy and tested police response in non-terror scenarios. In March 2010, retired customs officer Harish Marolia took 14-year-old Himani, his neighbour, hostage in his Andheri (West) apartment after a dispute with his housing society. Moments earlier, the 60-year-old had objected to construction work in the building and fired a shot in the air to threaten the society’s secretary. The situation ended violently when Marolia shot the teenager dead before being gunned down by police.

In November 2008, a 25-year-old man from Bihar, Rahul Raj, hijacked a double-decker BEST bus from Andheri, holding passengers hostage. When the bus reached Bail Bazar in Kurla, nearly 100 police personnel surrounded it. Raj threw a currency note at officers, declaring his intent to “kill” Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, whose party had launched an anti-migrant campaign. He was eventually shot dead by police, bringing the crisis to a bloody end.

These past incidents underline how Mumbai — despite its size and preparedness — has occasionally been pushed to the edge by lone actors, forcing police to balance negotiation and action. On Thursday, a similar high-stakes drama played out in Powai, where police safely rescued 17 children and two adults after 50-year-old Rohit Arya held them captive inside R A Studio. Arya later died from a bullet injury sustained during police action. The ordeal began around 1.30 pm when Powai police received an alert that Arya had locked the children, aged between 10 and 12, inside the studio located in the Mahavir Classic building. The children — boys and girls — had gathered for a web series audition that had been underway for two days. “This may be the first of its kind situation in recent years in which a large number of children were held hostage,” said a police officer. “In hostage situations, the most important thing is to save the life and ensure minimum damage. Negotiations are done keeping these two objectives in mind,” said assistant commissioner of police (Nagpur) Shailni Sharma, speaking to PTI. Sharma, Mumbai Police’s first woman officer trained in London for handling hostage crises after the 26/11 attacks, was also invited to train National Security Guard (NSG) commandos in 2022. “When there is no headway in negotiations (with the hostage-taker), the operation team takes decisions as per the need of the time,” she added. Sharma had been called to negotiate during the 2010 Andheri incident, but police had already stormed the flat and opened fire before she arrived. In subsequent years, she successfully intervened in two suicide attempts — in 2013 and 2017 — convincing the women involved not to take the extreme step. During the anti-CAA and NRC protests, she served as senior inspector in Nagpada, managing large-scale demonstrations through dialogue rather than force.