Goa Club Fire: How Luthra Brothers Were Brought Back to India From Their One-Way Thailand Trip

Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the Delhi-based entrepreneurs who co-owned the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in north Goa’s Arpora, are at the centre of the investigation into the massive fire that killed 25 people earlier this month.

The brothers, who have claimed they were only licensees of the nightclub, have been named the main accused in the case. The blaze broke out late on December 6, and within hours the Luthra brothers fled India. Nearly 10 days later, on December 16, they were brought back to the country and arrested.

Goa police took Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra into custody after they were brought out of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday afternoon. They were subsequently produced before a Delhi court, which granted Goa police a two-day transit remand to take the duo to Goa for further investigation.

How the Luthra brothers were brought back

Investigators say the brothers fled India within 90 minutes of the fire. The first distress call from the Birch by Romeo Lane club was made at 11:45 pm on December 6. At 1:17 am on December 7, while the fire was still raging, the Luthras booked online tickets to Phuket, Thailand, through the MakeMyTrip platform. They left India at around 5:30 am the same day.

An FIR was registered against them last Sunday under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125(a) and (b) (endangering life and personal safety), and 287 (negligent conduct with fire or combustible matter) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police alleged that the nightclub violated multiple safety norms and was also illegally constructed.

Around 24 hours after their departure, a lookout circular was issued against the brothers. Goa police also initiated international coordination through Interpol to trace and arrest them.

The Goa police subsequently approached the Ministry of External Affairs to cancel the brothers’ passports. Their passports were first impounded and later cancelled. The Central Bureau of Investigation then sought Interpol Blue Corner notices to track their movement and prevent them from fleeing to another country. Interpol later issued the notices.

The Luthra brothers were detained in Thailand on December 11 at a hotel in Phuket and shifted to an immigration detention centre as deportation proceedings were initiated.

Meanwhile, their anticipatory bail pleas were heard by a Delhi court on December 10 but were denied. The court refused to grant them protection from arrest after Goa police argued that the brothers had misled authorities about their departure, failed to cooperate with the investigation, and had no legitimate business interests in Phuket, contrary to their claims.

After nearly five days of deportation procedures, the brothers were flown back to India and landed in Delhi on Tuesday. Goa police arrested them at the airport and later secured transit remand to take them to Goa, where the probe into the deadly nightclub fire is continuing.