Former Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar on Thursday said he had provided financial assistance to Rohit Arya, the man who died earlier in the day after taking 19 people hostage, including 17 children, in Mumbai’s Powai area, reported the PTI.

Arya, 50, had previously served as project director of an initiative run by the state’s education department. According to Kesarkar, Arya had collected money from school students through a website, a move to which the department had objected.