A massive fire at a Goa nightclub that killed 25 people has led investigators to discover that its Delhi-based owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, left the country just hours after the incident, police said on Monday.
Saurabh Luthra and his brother Gaurav, the Delhi-based owners of Birch by Romeo Lane — the Goa nightclub where a fire killed 25 people on Saturday night — have left the country, police said on Monday.
According to Goa Police, the brothers boarded IndiGo flight 6E 1073 from Delhi to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, just hours after the blaze. The police received the first call about the incident at 12:04 am the same night. When officers went to their Delhi residence on Monday, the brothers were not found, and later it was confirmed they had already fled.
On Instagram, Saurabh Luthra wrote that the management was “deeply shaken” by the tragedy and expressed grief over the loss of lives, offering support to the victims’ families.
The fire at the Arpora nightclub, possibly triggered by a cooking-gas cylinder blast, is under investigation. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has ordered a four-member magisterial probe. Among the victims were three sisters — Anita, Kamla, and Saroj Joshi — and Vinod Kumar, the husband of one of them. Their last rites were held in Delhi on Monday.
Goa Police said a lookout notice had been issued for the Luthra brothers through the Bureau of Immigration on Sunday. DSP Nilesh Rane said immigration officials found that the two had flown to Phuket early on December 7, “immediately after the incident,” indicating an attempt to evade the investigation. Police are now coordinating with the Interpol Division of the CBI to track them down.
An employee of the nightclub, Bharat Kohli, was detained in Delhi and taken to Goa for questioning. The Goa BJP government has also acted against the Romeo Lane chain, sealing two of its properties along with a beach shack and another club in Vagator and Assagao.
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