Mumbai, Nov. 1 -- A day after Pune resident Rohit Arya, 50, was felled by a police bullet amid a hostage situation in Powai, well-known psychiatrist Harish Shetty said "skilled interrogation", like trained negotiators do in airplane hijack situations around the world, could have perhaps saved his life. "It made me very sad to know that he died," Shetty told Hindustan Times. The psychiatrist was as perturbed 15 years ago, he said, when a former customs officer, Harish Marolia, was similarly neutralised by the police after he held a 14-year-old girl hostage in his Andheri (West) apartment. In the incident from March 2010, Marolia killed the girl before he was shot dead by the police, whereas in this case, Arya was carrying an airgun and an inflammable spray. "A special investigation team (SIT) should be formed to find out why they had to kill him. The entire incident needs to be investigated, including why he could not be shot in the leg or the hand and then overpowered by the police," Shetty said. A psychological autopsy was also necessary in Arya's case to understand why he acted the way he did and assess the "vagueness" of his demands, the psychiatrist said. In the video that Arya released amid the hostage drama on Thursday, he had stated that he wanted "answers" to his questions and a "simple conversation" for which he had held 17 children hostage at an audition theatre in Powai. "It was complicated. He was deceitful, aggressive and vague. The vagueness points to something in the mind that needs to be investigated. That's why a psychological autopsy is a must," Shetty said. A psychological autopsy would involve analysis of Arya's behaviour over the preceding year, including his social media posts and things he may have said to close family or relatives. "What needs to be found out is if he was facing any issues, if anyone was blackmailing him and what his motive was," Shetty said. Psychiatrist Avinash D'Souza, formerly with the Bombay Psychiatric Society, however, differed. He said the police was most competent to take a decision in a hostage situation. According to D'souza, while Arya may have been mentally ill, a diagnosis wasn't possible without speaking to him. A hostage negotiator or a mental health professional at the scene would not guarantee an amicable solution. "Even if a mental health professional had engaged with him, they wouldn't know what could trigger such a person. What if he reacted aggressively and harmed people? The mental health professional could also have faced risks," D'Souza said. Rescuing the children from the hostage situation was paramount and the police did the best they could, he noted. "It would have been different if Arya had been captured by the police and then examined by a mental health professional in a facility," he said. Meanwhile, retired top-ranking officers from Mumbai police said "specialised training" to deal with hostage situations has been in place in the force for many years and some officers have also received training abroad. "Officers have been trained in hostage negotiations in the past and I remember that two officers had also received training abroad. The National Police Academy also has courses related to this. But training is one thing and having a trained officer on call is another. They may not always be forthcoming," said a retired Mumbai Police Commissioner, who did not wish to be named. Hostage negotiations can be "tricky business", he said, especially when an armed captor is involved and police officers only have a second or two before they can react. "At close range, even an air gun can be fatal. In this case, it was not a surprise that the police ended up shooting the captor," the retired officer said....