By the time police stormed into RA Studio through a bathroom window on Thursday afternoon, Mumbai had been holding its breath for nearly three hours.

What began as a quiet afternoon of supposed film auditions had spiralled into chaos, 17 children, a senior citizen, and a handful of adults were trapped inside a locked hall, while their captor, 38-year-old Rohit Arya, rigged the room with sensors , threatened to set it on fire, and refused to surrender.

From noon to 4.30 pm, the drama inside that cramped audition room unfolded minute by minute, a slow descent from confusion to panic, and finally, to a 35-minute police operation that ended with all 19 hostages rescued and Arya shot dead.

THE TIMELINE OF A SIEGE

12.00 pm: Arya arrived at RA Studio, a familiar face to the staff.

12.30

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