Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the two Delhi-based entrepreneurs accused in the deadly north Goa nightclub fire, are expected to be brought back to India today (Tuesday), a senior Goa police officer said. The Luthra brothers had fled to Thailand just hours after a blaze at their nightclub in Arpora on December 5 claimed 25 lives.
Goa Police is sending a team to New Delhi to take custody of the brothers once they arrive in the country. Officials said the Luthras were detained by Thai law enforcement authorities at a hotel in Phuket last week following a request from Indian agencies. Their passports were impounded by the Indian government and an Interpol Blue Notice was issued to track their location and movements.
According to police, the brothers are being deported from Bangkok to India on Tuesday. Once they land in Delhi, they will be produced before a local court to seek transit remand, after which they will be taken to Goa for further investigation. “A team from Goa Police will leave for Delhi later tonight and will be present to secure their custody when they exit the Delhi airport,” an officer said.
An FIR registered last Sunday has booked the Luthra brothers under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 105 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Sections 125(a) and (b) for acts endangering life and personal safety and Section 287 for negligent conduct with fire or combustible substances.
Police said a legal team representing the Luthras has travelled to Thailand and met the brothers at an immigration detention centre. Before their deportation, the two will be presented before a Thai court. The Indian Embassy issued emergency certificates to facilitate their return after their passports were first impounded and later cancelled by the Ministry of External Affairs.
So far, six accused in the case, including five members of the nightclub’s managerial staff and Ajay Gupta, identified as a business partner of the Luthras in the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, have been arrested. Police are also searching for a seventh suspect, Surinder Kumar Khosla, a British property owner who signed a lease with Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP, the firm under which the club operated, in 2023. Khosla is believed to be abroad.
Investigators have said the premises lacked mandatory approvals, including a construction licence, occupancy certificate and fire department no-objection certificate, and had earlier faced a demolition notice.