Goa fire: Club owners fled to Thailand hours after blaze, say police

The Goa Police on Monday said that Saurav Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the club where 25 persons died in a massive fire, are believed to have fled the country for Thailand, The Indian Express reported.

The fire had erupted around midnight on December 7 in a club named Birch By Romeo Lane, located near Baga beach, one of the most popular tourist spots in the state. Twenty staff members and five tourists died.

An unidentified police officer told PTI that the Bureau of Immigration in Mumbai was contacted and it was found that both Saurav Luthra and Gaurav Luthra had taken a flight to Phuket at 5.30 am on Sunday, immediately after the fire that occurred around midnight.

“Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] to apprehend both Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra at the earliest,” the news agency quoted the police officer as saying.

Five persons, including the manager of the club, have been arrested in the matter. Saurav Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, who live in North Delhi's Outram Lane, were also booked.

The police said on Monday that it had “dispatched a team to Delhi to conduct raids on the addresses of the accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra” soon after the first information report was filed against them.

“Since they were not available, a notice under the appropriate sections of law was pasted on their house,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. “By the evening of December 7 (Sunday), a lookout circular [LOC] was issued against them by the Bureau of Immigration at the request of the Goa Police.”

The brothers were in Delhi when the blaze erupted, The Indian Express reported.

On Monday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's office also said that the sarpanch of Arpora, where the club was located, had signed no-objection certificates for electricity connection, water connection, house repairs to the outlet, among other permissions, The Indian Express reported.

The sarpanch had also issued it a trade licence, the chief minister's office said, adding that the premises continued to run after the document expired in March 2024.

“Under Section 72-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, the local body is empowered to seal such premises,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. “However, they failed to do so.”

On the other hand, Arpora Panchayat President Roshan Redkar told reporters on Sunday that the state government had overruled the panchayat's decision to demolish the club after violations in its construction and safety norms were found, The Hindu reported.

Meanwhile, the Goa State Disaster Management Authority has issued an advisory to all nightclubs, restaurants, bars and similar establishments in the state to ensure strict compliance with prescribed fire safety, electrical safety, emergency preparedness and structural safety norms.

Source: Scroll
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