Mumbai hostage-taker installed motion detection sensors at doors, windows to thwart police entry

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) Rohit Arya, the man who took 17 children and two adults hostage inside R A Studio in Powai before being shot dead in a rescue operation mounted by Mumbai police, had installed motion detection sensors at the windows and doors and also turned CCTVs in one direction to protect himself, an official said on Friday.

Arya (50) was shot dead on Thursday after he took hostage boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 12 who had arrived there on his call to audition for a web series. Police rescued the children after a three-hour hostage drama. Arya succumbed to a bullet injury sustained during the operation.

"He had installed motion detection sensors at all the doors and windows to prevent the police from entering. He had also turned all the CCTVs in one direction so that nothing could be detected from them. The sensors were noticed when a police team entered the site through the bathroom to end the hostage taking episode," the official said.

Arya came to RA Studio at around 12 noon and took the children hostage around an hour later by locking the hall, he said.

Police arrived at the scene after being alerted about some children shouting and gesturing for help through the glass windows of the hall, the official added.

Conversations between senior police officials and Arya continued for two hours, but the accused did not relent, following which the fire brigade team that was summoned to the spot broke open the bathroom window, he said.

Three police personnel entered the hall through the broken window, leading to Arya pointing an airgun at them and then opening fire, the official said.

The retaliatory firing by an inspector in self-defence hit Arya on the chest, who later succumbed to the injury, he said.

The police team recovered airguns, petrol, flammable rubber solution and lighters from the scene of crime, the official added.

A case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for attempt to murder, kidnapping, negligent act concerning fire or combustible matter and other offences.

"The probe has been handed over to the Crime Branch, while the recovered items have been sent for forensic examination," the official informed. PTI ZA BNM