Goa nightclub fire: Owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra detained in Thailand, to be deported soon

Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, co-owners of ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub in Goa where a deadly fire last week killed 25 people, have been detained in Thailand. Luthra brothers were detained by the Thai police on the request of Indian law enforcement agencies, sources told TOI. The process to bring them back to India is underway.


Just hours after the deadly blaze at the popular nightclub in Goa, the Luthra brothers fled the country on an IndiGo flight through the Delhi Airport. On Thursday, The Thailand Police released pictures showing the brothers in their custody. They will be deported and handed over to the Indian authorities and a team to facilitate their return to India has already reached there, sources told TOI.


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Luthra brothers fled to Thailand

The duo booked their tickets for Phuket through a travel portal at 1.17 am on December 7, within an hour of learning about the devastating fire at 'Birch by Romeo Lane', their nightblub at Arpora in North Goa. The fire at the Goa nightclub broke out at late Sunday night and by 5.30 am that morning, the Luthra brothers were airborne, headed to Phuket on IndiGo flight 6E-1073. At the time when police and administration were still battling the blaze and attempting to rescue staff, the two left India in the early hours of Sunday by an IndiGo flight.

Goa Police had appealed to the Interpol through MEA and CBI for their apprehension and a blue corner notice was subsequently issued against them. Goa police told TOI that it would help trace the accused and also prevent them from migrating to any other country from their present destination. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told TOI that a team will be sent to Thailand to bring them back to India. The passports of prime accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra have been suspended. The regional passport office, New Delhi, has, meanwhile, issued a notice to the brothers seeking an explanation from both as to why action should not be initiated to impound their passports within seven days.

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Luthra brothers move court

The Luthra brothers also moved the Delhi court with a plea for anticipatory bail. They said in the petition that they are licensees and not actual owners of the building where the club was located, seeking four weeks of transit anticipatory bail so that they would not be arrested immediately after their return to Delhi. They have also argued that they flew to Thailand for a business meeting and did not flee due to the fire. They said in the petition that they were not present at the club at the time of the incident. The court rejected their interim protection plea.

The fire at the nightclub in Goa broke out around 11.45pm Saturday during an event attended by more than 150 tourists. A preliminary investigation by Goa Police and Directorate of Fire Services found it was triggered when electric firecrackers struck the wooden ceiling. By the time firefighters put out the blaze, 25 people had died. Five of them were tourists, and 20 others were staff members. Most of the victims were found in the basement and died from inhaling toxic smoke.

(With agency inputs)