More than 20 children held hostage by a man inside a studio in Mumbai’s Powai area were safely rescued by police and fire brigade teams on Thursday, an official said.

“All the children are safe,” said joint commissioner of police Satyanarayan.

The man, identified as Rohit Arya, accused of holding children hostage, was shot dead by police during rescue operation, said an official. He appeared to be mentally unstable, and was taken into custody.

The dramatic situation unfolded at RA Studio near the L&T building over an hour on Thursday afternoon.

The children, boys and girls around 15 years old, had been called for an ‘audition’, as per the preliminary information.

Before the children were rescued, Arya released a video on social media, saying he wanted to speak to a few people and ask

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