- Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, Goa nightclub owners, deported from Thailand to India
- They are being brought back on an IndiGo flight
- The brothers will be produced before Patiala House Court upon landing in Delhi
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who owned the 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub in Goa where a massive fire killed 25 people, have been deported from Thailand to India. NDTV accessed visuals of the Luthra brothers boarding the flight.
They are being brought back on an IndiGo flight (6E1064) - which is scheduled to land in India at 1:45 pm (IST).
Upon landing in Delhi, the two will be produced before the Patiala House Court, with officials seeking their transit remand.
The Luthra brothers, against whom a case of culpable homicide and negligence is registered, had fled to Thailand's Phuket hours after the tragedy on an IndiGo flight. They were allegedly attending a wedding in Delhi at the time of the incident. As soon as they got information about the fire and the potential scale of damage, Saurabh and Gaurav called their office in Delhi's Model Town and asked their staff to book flight tickets. They then rushed to their home, picked up documents, and fled.
The two were detained in Thailand on December 11 after they stepped out of their hotel in Thailand for a meal. Sources told NDTV that the short outing led the authorities to discover that the brothers, for whom the police were searching in India, were in Phuket. The Thai authorities verified their identities and travel details, following which efforts were being made to deport the Luthra brothers to India.
The Goa club tragedy
A musical night at the Goa nightclub turned deadly earlier this month, with videos showing huge flames and smoke at the scene. Another video shows a dancer grooving to the beats of the Sholay chartbuster 'Mehbooba Mehbooba' when the first flames appear on the ceiling.
Preliminary investigation into the tragedy has revealed that the violation of safety norms turned the nightclub into a tinderbox. According to officials, the club had no emergency exit, no functional fire extinguishers or safety alarms, and the access road was too narrow for fire engines. Despite several warnings, the club management did not fix the security lapses. The club was also operating without proper permissions and licenses, an FIR mentioned.
Arrests so far
Four staff members of the nightclub have been arrested so far, including the manager. Officials from multiple government departments involved in issuing permits and licences to the club have also been summoned for questioning.
A third partner of the club, Ajay Gupta, was also arrested in Delhi.
Gupta earlier claimed that he was a "silent partner"; however, the investigation revealed that he was actually the most active co-owner. He was in Goa at the time of the incident, but boarded a plane to Delhi hours into the tragedy. Upon landing in Delhi, his phone was switched off, with a lookout circular issued against him. He first went to his Gurugram home and then left in a Toyota Innova with his driver - whose phone cops tracked and traced Gupta.
The police found Gupta at the Institute of Brain and Spine in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar last week where he admitted himself to evade arrest.
