Behind Mumbai hostage crisis: Rohit Arya's grievances over unpaid dues, civic dispute

Rohit Arya, the man shot dead by Mumbai Police after taking 17 children hostage at an audition theatre in Powai on Thursday (30 October), said in his final video that he was upset over unpaid “dues” from the government, a claim denied by the Maharashtra school education department.

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Arya, armed with an airgun and an inflammable spray, held the children hostage at the theatre where they had reportedly been called for an audition. Police rescued all the children unharmed and shot Arya dead after a 3.5-hour-long operation.

Grievance behind kidnapping

While holding the children at RA Studio in Mahavir Classic, Arya recorded a video in which he claimed he had no intention of harming anyone.

Instead, he said his motive was to draw attention to unpaid dues of Rs 2 crore which he alleged the Maharashtra education department owed him.

Arya was reportedly aggrieved with the state government for denying him credit for a school development project titled Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala (“My School, Beautiful School”).

He had earlier secured a tender for a school-related project during the tenure of then Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar, but later alleged that despite his involvement, he was never paid for his work.

His growing frustration led him to stage several protests outside Kesarkar’s residence while the minister was still in office.

Unpaid dues fuelled frustration

Arya had also claimed credit for conceptualising and launching Swachhta Monitor in Maharashtra in 2023, another initiative for which he said he was denied recognition and payment.

He alleged that the government implemented his original concept, Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala, without compensating or crediting him.

According to Arya, the initiative stemmed from his film Let’s Change, which he had conceptualised and developed years earlier. He claimed the government not only used his idea but also the rights to his film.

“They used me to complete the work, but after that, they tried to suppress me,” he said in one of his earlier statements.

Arya accused officials of taking his concept, implementing it under the state’s education programme since 2022, and later denying his contribution. “They didn’t give me credit or money; they simply erased my existence,” he had said.

Rs 2 crore budget dispute

Earlier, Arya had staged multiple protests and had even staged a month-long hunger strike. Reportedly, Arya alleged that then education minister Deepak Kesarkar had assured him his demands would be met, but the issue remained unresolved.

However, progress stalled after the then joint secretary of education, Tushar Mahajan, reportedly told him that “he did some mistakes,” and that no action would be taken until certain enquiries were completed.

“On the night of August 3, minister Deepak Kesarkar came to my home, understood my concerns, said I was not wrong, and assured me that everything would be resolved by August 5. He asked me to end my hunger strike, and I respected his request. But on August 7, it became clear that his assurances were false,” Arya alleged.

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He added that on August 9, he met the minister again, who once more promised to set things right. However, Mahajan reportedly told him that a mistake had occurred on his part and that no further action could be taken until an inquiry was completed.

Frustrated, Arya went on to name several officials, saying, “If I commit suicide, then Deepak Kesarkar, his personal secretary Mangesh Shinde, education commissioner Suraj Mandhare, Tushar Mahajan, and Sameer Sawant will be responsible.”

He further claimed that Kesarkar had initially approved a Rs 2 crore budget for the Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala project. “He included my idea and concept in the project, but ultimately, they neither paid me nor credited my work,” Arya said.

Government responds

The Maharashtra government, however, stated that Arya’s expenditure claims were “vague and exaggerated”, asserting that his proposed projects lacked technical clarity and documentation.

According to official records, Arya’s firm, Apsara Media Entertainment Network, launched the Swachhta Monitor initiative under the Let’s Change project, which was initially approved through a government resolution dated 27 September 2022.

The state later sanctioned a follow-up proposal on 30 June 2023 and disbursed Es 9.9 lakh for the first phase.

In 2023-24, the education department sanctioned Rs 2 crore under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala campaign to execute the second phase of Swachhta Monitor.

'Technical irregularities'

However, officials said the expenditure details and project parameters Arya submitted were “unclear and inflated”. “Components such as advertising, management costs, technical support, and online distribution of the film Let’s Change were found to be vague and exaggerated. No clear details were provided about assessment metrics, operational guidelines, or compliance standards,” the government note stated.

Due to these “technical irregularities” and a lack of clarity over execution, the second phase of the project was never implemented. In 2024-25, Arya again sought approval to revive the initiative across all state schools, seeking Rs 2.41 crore in funding.

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During review, officials discovered that Arya’s firm had already begun collecting registration fees from schools through its private website — swachhtamonito.in — without official authorisation.

Following this discovery, the state issued directives on 23 August 2024, ordering the Education Commissioner in Pune to recover the fees collected by Apsara Media Entertainment Network and deposit them in the government account.

The firm was also instructed to provide a written undertaking not to charge schools and to resubmit the proposal only after fulfilling these conditions. Officials said no further action was taken as Arya failed to furnish the required information.

Minister clarifies payment dispute

Former education minister Deepak Kesarkar, who served as education minister from 2022 to 2024, clarified that he had personally given Arya some money after he complained that the department had defaulted on payment.

“It was revealed that he hadn’t submitted the necessary documents. No government department can release funds without proper bills. He was demanding payment without documentation and refused to listen to officials. Out of humanity, I gave him some money from my personal account,” Kesarkar said.

The Shiv Sena leader added that Arya should have resolved the matter with the department rather than taking the children as hostages. Speaking on the incident, Kesarkar acknowledged Arya’s contribution to the Swachhta Monitor concept and said the issue should have been settled through dialogue.

“Rohit Arya had a concept called Swachhta Monitor (cleanliness monitor). He was also assigned work for Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala. This matter should have been discussed with the department. It is wrong to hold people hostage like this,” he said.