Mumbai hostage scare: 75-year-old eyewitness recalls studio nightmare where 17 children were trapped

Seventy-five-year-old Mangal Patankar, who witnessed every moment of the shocking hostage crisis in Mumbai, has shared a detailed account of the incident. Notably, Mumbai on Thursday faced a nail-biting ordeal when 17 children were held captive inside a studio in Powai by a man, sending shockwaves across the city. Patankar recalled that the accused entered with an accomplice and instructed everyone to go into the room and doubts started arising when he didn’t allow anyone to go out for lunch.

“Everything seemed normal at first. Rohit Arya and a dark-complexioned man came in and told us to take the children into another room. We thought it was part of some schedule, but Rohit didn’t allow anyone to go out for lunch that day,” she said. Concerned, Patankar tried to call her daughter Vandana Jadhav and granddaughter Nirali Jadhav, but the dark man accompanying Rohit scolded her, saying, “Don’t talk to anyone.” She believes that man played an important role in the kidnapping.

No physical harm to hostages

According to the woman, Rohit did not shout or physically harm anyone. “He kept saying he didn’t have money and would take one crore rupees from each child. He had chosen only those kids who were from wealthy families and had even waived their school fees earlier. Perhaps he had planned this long ago, thinking he could make money by holding them hostage,” she said.

The escape route

Recalling the entry of police into the scene, Patankar said she ran towards the exit with children after discovering that Rohit had fallen after being hit by a bullet. “I took the children and ran toward the exit. I saw the police fire at Rohit’s leg — he fell down. Maybe they later shot him in the chest,” Patankar recalled.

“A door fell on me — my head and shoulder started bleeding. I fainted. A constable named Sawant put me in a van and took me to the hospital — that’s the last thing I remember,” she added. Patankar said Rohit was not alone in the incident and the police investigate the case and arrest other culprits too.