Gaurav and Saurav Luthra, co-owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub where a Saturday blaze claimed 25 lives, have been detained by the authorities in Thailand
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PANAJI — Gaurav and Saurav Luthra, co-owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub where a Saturday blaze claimed 25 lives, have been detained by the authorities in Thailand, and efforts are underway for their return to face legal action, officials said here on Thursday.
Gaurav, 44, and his brother Saurav Luthra, 40, had fled to Phuket within hours after the December 6 tragedy at their club in Goa. An Interpol Blue Corner notice was issued on December 9 following a request from the Goa police routed through the CBI.
The Goa police said that the two brothers were accused of injury causing death, manslaughter and murder by organising a fire show “without taking proper care and caution and without providing fire safety equipment, other safety gadgets.”
According to officials, their deportation has been initiated, and the two would be brought to India after completion of exit formalities in Thailand.
As soon as the news of the detention of the Luthra brothers emerged, pictures with handcuffs holding their passports started appearing on social media.
According to officials, the co-owners made an immediate attempt to evade arrest and booked their air tickets for Phuket through a travel portal at 1:17 AM on December 7, a little over an hour after learning about the fire at their nightclub.
In New Delhi, Union Minister of State for Renewable Energy Shripad Naik, who hails from Goa, told reporters outside Parliament House “yes, both of them are arrested” and wondered why they ran away when such a big tragedy had happened.
“Where will they run,” he asked.
In a related development, a Goa court on Thursday remanded Ajay Gupta, a partner in the fire-ravaged nightclub, to seven days of police custody. He was brought from Delhi on Wednesday night.
The police had sought ten days of custody, but the court in Mapusa town granted seven, Gupta’s lawyer, Rohan Desai, said, adding that his client is “completely cooperating with the investigating agency”.
As he was being escorted by police, Gupta told reporters he had no operational role in the facility. “I don’t know anything. I have no involvement. I was a sleeping partner and had no say in the operations of the club,” he said.
Gupta’s arrest follows the issuance of a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him. Besides him, the Goa police have arrested five managers and staff members of the Arpora nightclub, where the blaze killed 25 people on December 6.