Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday ordered the demolition of the Romeo Lane beach shack in Vagator, owned by brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, as authorities tightened their investigation into the Arpora nightclub fire that killed 25 people, reported PTI news agency.
The action follows a widening search for the brothers, who fled to Thailand shortly after the blaze gutted their nightclub-cum-restaurant, Birch by Romeo Lane, late Saturday.
According to Goa Police, the brothers boarded a New Delhi-Phuket IndiGo flight at 5.30am on Sunday, barely hours after the fire. Officers said a lookout notice had already been issued with the Bureau of Immigration.
“The Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai was contacted and it was found that both the accused had taken 6E 1073 flight (New Delhi to Phuket) at 5.30am on 7th December,” deputy superintendent of police and public relations officer Nilesh Rane said.
Indian agencies are now coordinating with Thai authorities to geolocate the duo in Phuket and are seeking their deportation based on an arrest warrant, hoping to avoid a lengthier extradition route. Police teams who visited the Luthras’ north Delhi residence on Monday said they could not find them.
Deadly Arpora fire
The fire at Birch by Romeo Lane tore through the 300 sq m property around 11.45pm on Saturday. Of the 25 people killed, 20 were staff members and five were tourists, including four from a Delhi family.
In an FIR registered at 9.30 am on Sunday, Goa Police booked the Luthra brothers and some unnamed persons for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 105), endangering lives and personal safety (125(a)(b)) and negligent handling of fire or combustible material (section 287) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Four individuals, chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania and general manager Vivek Singh, were arrested on Sunday.
A fifth person, Bharat Singh Kohli, described as someone who was “managing the daily operations of the establishment on behalf of the owners,” was arrested on Monday.