Oppn alleges wrongful action in encounter death of hostage-taker Rohit Arya

Nagpur, Dec 9 (PTI) Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Tuesday slammed the state government over the police encounter of entrepreneur Rohit Arya, who took 19 people hostage in Mumbai in October, claiming that the action was "wrongful" and could have been avoided.

Raising a Calling Attention motion, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said Arya, who was gunned down during the rescue of 17 children and two adults from a studio in Powai, had demanded pending dues and had earlier worked on the 'Swachhata Monitor' and 'Mukhyamantri Mazi Shala Sundar Shala' projects during the Mahayuti government's tenure.

"He had made a video saying, 'Give me my money, I am not a terrorist'. Despite that, why was he killed in an encounter? Why was he not shot in the leg? How did an encounter specialist reach the spot at that moment?" Wadettiwar asked.

Arya had called boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 12 to R A Studio in Powai for an audition for a web series, and held them captive on October 30. Police rescued the children after a three-hour hostage drama, but the entrepreneur was killed after sustaining a bullet injury during the police operation.

Wadettiwar alleged that Arya's payments were withheld due to decisions taken by a former minister.

"Was any inquiry conducted against the former minister? Is the money still pending?" he questioned.

Minister of State for Home (Rural) Pankaj Bhoyar told the House that the Human Rights Commission had ordered an inquiry, which was underway.

"The police acted in self-defence because Arya had held small children hostage. There is nothing wrong with the police action," he said, adding that accountability would be fixed where necessary.

Opposition MLAs Nana Patole and Jayant Patil blamed the government for alleged financial mismanagement.

"What he (Arya) did cannot be defended, but is the government not responsible? If it cannot pay consultants, it clearly shows the government is facing financial issues," Patole said.

NCP (SP) MLA Patil questioned why no police complaint had been filed earlier if Arya was illegally collecting money from schools, instead of merely issuing reminders.

To this, Bhoyar said Arya had executed the Swachhata Monitor project twice under CSR and was paid Rs 9.90 lakh.

"He wrongly assumed he would receive the third project and began collecting money without government approval. The government had asked him to return the money," he added. PTI ND ARU