Mumbai hostage case: Rohit Arya met with Marathi actor Girish Oak before incident, neighbours say he had erratic behavior

Rohit Arya, the man who orchestrated the Mumbai hostage drama, had met with Marathi actors before he took 17 children as hostages. 

Actor Girish Oak confirmed that he had met with Arya just a day before the incident at the same studio where the children were held. He said that he was contacted by a person who spoke on behalf of Arya. “I was informed that Arya had produced movies earlier, so I agreed to meet him," he said. “We discussed a project based on a social cause. I noticed many children at the studio and asked about them. He told me they were attending a workshop. The kids even gathered for a group photo with me, and some parents took selfies. I left around noon," he added.
Actress Ruchita Jadhav also confirmed that she was contacted by Arya to discuss a film project weeks earlier.

Past incidents

Other parts of his life have also been revealed. Arya and his wife were once involved in a months-long dispute over a rented property, which eventually ended with the police intervening, India Today reported. The couple had signed a rental agreement for 36 months in his wife, Anjali’s name, in the area of Kothrud in October 2024. However, the couple soon started to get complaints about their inappropriate behaviour. The owner issued a notice asking the couple to vacate the flat in a month. However, Rohit refused to move out and allegedly even stopped paying the rent. When the owner sent him a legal notice to move out, Rohit demanded Rs 2 lakh a compensation to vacate. The flat owner agreed to pay Rs 1.75 lakh as the dispute dragged on.

Even after the payment, the couple allegedly refused to vacate, which led to the owner calling the authorities. After moving out, the couple went to live with their relatives.

Rohit Arya's family

Arya had no contact with his immediate family leading up to the day of the crime.

Arya, who was 50 years old, occasionally visited his elderly parents in Kothrud, Pune, but they were out of the city when the incident occurred. The residents of the Swaranjali Cooperative Housing Society, who spoke to NDTV, said that Arya’s parents had lived there for many years but kept to themselves.

His brother and sister are settled in the US.

One member of the housing society said, “His parents have been living here for the last several years, and Rohit used to occasionally come to meet them. It is learnt that Rohit used to live in Mumbai and had briefly stayed in Gujarat. His parents were not at their residence for the last few days. Their flat is locked," speaking of Arya’s father, they said that he was a heart patient and said that the news of his death must have come as a huge shock to him. Rohit comes from a very learned family -- his father was an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) and ran a business."

They also said that they didn't know why Rohit changed and went by Arya instead of Harolikar.

"We came to know through news reports that he uses Arya as a surname instead of Harolikar. We saw his face on TV yesterday and were shocked to know he was none other than Harolikar's son."

On Thursday, Rohit Arya took 17 children hostage for over 3 hours. He said that he committed the act over not being paid his dues for a project he did for several schools. He owned a media firm and had invited the children to the studio on the pretext of an audition for a web series.

Arya was shot and succumbed to his injuries after a two-hour standoff with the police. The hostages were rescued safely by the authorities.

India