Maharashtra minister Dada Bhuse on Friday said that he has sought a report regarding the work Mumbai hostage incident suspect Rohit Arya had done with the education department, reported the PTI.

Rohit Arya (50) was shot dead after he allegedly took 17 children and two adults hostage inside R A Studio in Mumbai`s Powai on Thursday, reported the PTI.

The children, boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 12, had been called to the studio for an audition for a web series that had been ongoing for six days.

Police rescued the children after a three-hour hostage drama, but Arya was killed after sustaining a bullet injury during the operation.

He had earlier claimed that his dues for a project for the Maharashtra education department were pending, and he had even staged a protest in Pune.

Speaking to reporters, Bhuse said, “The department appears to have taken action against him. We have sought a detailed report from the department on the work done by him.”

Earlier, former School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar had said that he had given Arya financial help after Arya complained that the department had not paid him his dues. Kesarkar also mentioned that Arya had taken money from school students through a website, which the department had objected to.

According to a government resolution dated 25 January 2024, Arya was the director of Project Let’s Change, which ran the Swachhta Monitor campaign from July to October 2023. The programme encouraged schoolchildren to act as cleanliness monitors and to stop people from spitting or littering in public. Over 64,000 schools and 59 lakh students had participated.

The education department said the Swachhta Monitor initiative was first approved in September 2022 and carried out by Arya’s company. It was approved again in June 2023, and the company received Rs 9.9 lakh for the work.

Under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Shala Sundar Shala initiative for 2023–24, Rs 2 crore was sanctioned for the second phase of Swachhta Monitor. Arya had submitted cost estimates for advertising, management, technical support, and film screenings. However, the department said the scheme was not implemented as its impact could not be properly measured.

In 2024–25, Arya again proposed to restart the initiative, this time seeking Rs 2.41 crore. While the proposal was still being considered, Arya reportedly began charging registration fees from schools through the website www.swachhtamonitor.in

When this came to light, the Education Commissioner was instructed to recover the registration money collected from schools and asked Arya’s company to provide a written assurance that it would not charge schools. Since Arya did not respond or provide the required information, no further action was taken, the department said.

(with PTI inputs)

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