Goa nightclub inferno: Luthras board Indigo flight to Thailand; post ‘profound grief’ on social media, Interpol alerted

PANAJI: Absconding Goa nightclub owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra reached Delhi airport within 3 hours of the weekend blaze that killed 25 at their party place Birch by Romeo Lane and flew out to Thailands Phuket by a Sunday 5.30am IndiGo flight, DGP Alok Kumar revealed on Monday as the focus of the probe shifted to multiple illegalities.

It shows their intent to avoid police investigation, the DGP said, coinciding with Saurabhs statement on social media expressing profound grief and unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured.

The management further affirms that it shall extend every possible form of assistance, support, and cooperation to the bereaved and affected individuals, as they navigate through this period of immense anguish and adversity, Saurabh, chairperson of Romeo Lane, wrote. Based on a request from Goa police, Bureau of Immigration has since issued a Look-Out Notice (LOC) against siblings Saurabh and Gaurav.

DGP Kumar said police would coordinate with Interpol to arrest Saurabh and Gaurav at the earliest.

A police team from Goa had reached Delhi on Sunday with an arrest warrant against the brothers. They searched the Luthras residential and office addresses but could not find the two.

Bharat Kohli used to run the daily operations of the Arpora nightclub and Goa police have obtained his transit remand for bringing him to the state for further questioning.

Goa Police are also searching in Delhi for a man named Ajay Gupta. According to sources, Gupta is a partner — along with brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra— in the Arpora club where the fire occurred.

Four staffers of Birch by Romeo Lane — chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania and general manager Vivek Singh — who were arrested on Sunday, were produced before the court and have been remanded in six days police custody.

Goa police have also called all three suspended officers — Siddhi Harlankar, Shamila Monteiro and Raghuvir D Bagkar — for questioning at Anjuna police station. Police had called Bagkar on Monday, but he did not appear before the Anjuna police station.

When the incident took place at around 11.45pm, there were over 150 tourists attending a Saturday night event at the club. A preliminary investigation conducted by Goa police and the directorate of fire services concluded that the fire broke out after electric firecrackers hit the wooden ceiling during the event.

Of the 25 who died, doctors at the Goa Medical College, Bambolim, completed postmortem examination of 20 bodies and handed them over to the respective family members.

Readers Comments