‘Why was he not shot in leg?’: Opposition slams Maharashtra govt for ‘police encounter’ of Rohit Arya during Powai hostage crisis

“He made a video stating, ‘Give me my money, I am not a terrorist’. Despite this, why was Rohit Arya encountered? Why was he not shot in the leg? How was an encounter specialist police officer available right at that time?” asked Wadettiwar.

He claimed that the incident occurred because the then minister withheld his payments.

“Was an inquiry conducted into the former ministers in this matter? Is the money pending with the government?” he asked.

Minister of State for Home (Rural) Pankaj Bhoyar clarified that an inquiry is underway into the case.

“The police acted in self-defence because Rohit Arya held small children hostage. There is nothing wrong with police action. The Human Rights Commission has directed the appointment of a committee and an inquiry, and the inquiry is currently ongoing as per that directive,” said Bhoyar. The minister assured that action will be taken against those responsible for this matter.

Govt facing financial problems, says Nana Patole

MLAs Nana Patole and Jayant Patil alleged that the government has depleted the state treasury so severely that it has failed to pay consultants like Arya.

“What he did cannot be supported at any cost, but isn’t it the government who is responsible for this? If it can’t pay the consultants, that means the government is facing financial problems,” said Congress MLA Patole.

NCP (SP) MLA Jayant Patil questioned whether the government had filed police complaints against Arya for illegally collecting money from schools, rather than sending him reminders.

Bhoyar maintained that Arya had run the Swachhata Monitor project twice under CSR and was paid Rs 9.90 lakh. “He wrongly interpreted that he would get the third project and started collecting money from schools without consent from the government. The government had asked him to return the money,” said the minister.