A tense, hours-long stand-off in Mumbai's Powai area concluded on Thursday afternoon after police rescued at least 20 children held captive inside a flat.

The man who took the children hostage, identified as Rohit Arya, died of bullet injuries during the confrontation with police.

The dramatic situation unfolded at R A Studio near the L&T building. The children, described as boys and girls around 15 years old, had reportedly been called to the location for an 'audition', according to preliminary information.

"All the children are safe," confirmed Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan following the operation. Arya had been holding the children captive before the confrontation. Officials earlier described him as mentally unstable.

Further details regarding the exact circumstances of the shooting that led to Arya's death, and the immediate condition of the rescued children, have yet to be released by authorities.

Mumbai Police said a man identified as Rohit Arya has taken several children hostage in Powai and, in a video, demanded to speak to specific people — warning he would set the place on fire and harm himself and the children if prevented.

According to PTI, police rescued over 20 children held hostage inside flat.

"All children have been safely rescued from the spot. The man, Rohit Arya has been detained by the Police. The Police are talking to him and trying to find out why he took such a step and if actually is mentally unstable," Mumbai police said in a statement.

Police have recovered what appears to be an air gun and some chemicals from the location.

In the video, the man said he had chosen hostage-taking instead of suicide in order to force conversations with unspecified people. "I am Rohit Arya. Instead of dying by suicide, I have made a plan and am holding some children hostage here," he said, listing what he described as "simple demands, moral demands, ethical demands, and a few questions." He warned that "the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me" and threatened to set the place on fire, adding that he did not seek money and was "not a terrorist".

"I want simple conversations, and that's why I've taken these children hostage. I've held them hostage as part of a plan. If I live, I'll do it; if I die, someone else will, but it will definitely happen because the slightest wrong move from you will trigger me to set this whole place on fire and die in it," Arya said in the video released before his arrest.