Mumbai scare: Powai studio hostage timeline — How police saved children from captor Rohit Aarrya

MUMBAI: In a high-stakes Powai hostage crisis, police successfully rescued children held captive by Rohit Aarrya, who fired at officers during the standoff. After nearly two hours of negotiations failed, officers returned fire in self-defence, killing Aarrya.

Authorities stressed that the priority was the safety of the children, while Aarrya’s motives remain under investigation, with reports linking him to past grievances with a former state minister.‘OUR TEAM SHOT HIM IN SELF-DEFENCE’WHERE

RA Studio, opposite L&T campus, Powai (The studio is in a building called Mahavir Classic)WHATBefore Thursday Rohit Aarraya, 45, had been conducting auditions for five days. Thursday was day six, the final day of auditions.Thursday10am Young aspirants arrive for auditions. They come from far: Kalyan, Nalasopara and other parts of Maharashtra. Parents wait outside.1.30 pm Parents ask the security guard of Mahavir Classic to let them find out why their children were not out for their lunch break1.40 pm The security guard informs the parents that their children have been held hostage by Aarraya. Parents scream for help. A father tries to open the door and break the railing1.45 pm Distress call for help goes to the Powai police station2 pm Police arrive at the site. So do the fire brigade and an ambulance

‘Brought dead’5.13 pm A school bus with the acting aspirants and their parents leave the studio premises5.15 pm Aarraya is declared brought dead by the hospitalRESCUE TEAMS INVOLVEDPowai police | Quick response team | Fire brigadeOthers: NSG commandos kept on alertAmbulance was on sceneI reached the spot when I heard some women scream for help. From then, to the manner in which the police and the quick response commandos came in, and the way they quickly took Aarraya away, I was mighty impressed — Dinesh Gosavi | NEXT-DOOR RESIDENTAarraya called and asked me to bring my 10-yr-old daughter. We came from Kolhapur. My daughter went for the audition with her grandmother, who went inside as she couldn’t wait outside the gate — parentHOSTAGE SITUATIONS IN PASTMay 2003 | A 17-year-old man held Punjab International Airport, 22-year-old CISF constable Raj Namdeo shot his superior, deputy commandant AR Kankar, and held 10 of his colleagues hostage. Namdeo was reportedly denied leave, fired nine rounds during an argument, killing Kankar. The hostages were rescued after a seven-hour dramaOct 2008 | A 23-year-old man from Patna, Rahul Raj, enraged by Raj Thackeray’s anti-Bihari campaign, pulled out a country-made revolver inside a Mumbai double-decker bus, shot and injured a passenger, and held 13 others hostage. The 30-minute drama ended when a police officer killed him after he refused to surrender. Police said Raj was in the city apparently in search of a job. An identity card recovered from his bag indicated that he was a former student of the Indian Institute of Health, Education and Research in Patna.