Mumbai, Nov. 4 -- Former school education minister Deepak Kesarkar refused to speak to hostage-taker Rohit Aarya, who insisted on talking to him as negotiations dragged on for more than two hours last Thursday, police said. During this period, Aarrya held 17 children and two adults hostage inside RA Studio in Powai. Armed with what turned out to be an air gun and flammable liquid, he had threatened to set the studio on fire if his demands were not met. Aarya, who was later shot dead by the police, had specifically asked to speak with Kesarkar. Investigators believe he was holding the children hostage as leverage to secure a commitment on payment of dues he claimed were owed to him. Aarya had been assigned various projects by the state education department, then headed by Kesarkar but, on Thursday, the politician was categorical that he did not want to speak to him. Kesarkar confirmed to HT that he had told the police that he was no longer education minister and that it was the government that could address Aarrya's grievances. "How could I take the risk, when the lives of so many children were at stake," Kesarkar said. P4...