India, Oct. 31 -- Rohit Arya, the man who shot dead by Mumbai police after he took 17 children hostage at an audition theatre in Powai on Thursday, said in his last video that he was committing the act over payment of "dues" from the government - a claim denied by the Maharashtra school education department.

Rohit Arya, carrying an airgun and an inflammable spray, held 17 children hostage at the theatre where they had reportedly been called for an 'audition' late on Thursday. Police rescued the children and shot the accused dead following a 3.5-hour-long rescue operation.

While he held the children at RA Studio at Mahavir Classic, a commercial-cum-residential building in Powai, he recorded a video and claimed that hurting the children w...