Goa fire: Club owners fled to Phuket on IndiGo flight
Delhi entrepreneurs Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled to Phuket after a fire at their Goa nightclub killed 25 people; police issued a lookout notice for them.
Delhi-based entrepreneurs Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled to Phuket on an IndiGo flight at 5.30am on Sunday, roughly six hours after a devastating blaze at the club they owned in north Goa killed 25 people amid allegations of mismanagement and multiple rules flouted, police said on Monday.
Goa police failed to find the brothers at their residence in north Delhi on Monday and later said that they fled to Phuket at 5.30am on an IndiGo flight. The Goa police had issued a lookout notice against the brothers with the Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai on Sunday evening.
“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 i.e. immediately after the incident which had taken place around midnight. It shows their intent to avoid police investigation,” deputy superintendent of police and public relations officer Nilesh Rane said.
“The Goa police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of CBI to apprehend both Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra at the earliest,” Rane added, with the Delhi Police saying the CBI has approached Interpol for a blue notice against the two.
Delhi Police on Monday said the family is from Delhi’s Outram Lines, Kingsway Camp. A Delhi Police officer said: “The family — brothers, a sister and parents — has been living there for years. The Goa Police came to Model Town police station and notices were given at each address which was found. At their residence, we met their mother and questioned her about her sons’ whereabouts”. The brothers ran the Romeo Lane franchise that has three dozen clubs across multiple cities, mushrooming in ten years after the first establishment opened in New Delhi in 2015.
Twenty-five people, including four from a Delhi family, were killed and six injured after a massive fire ripped through their nightclub – Birch by Romeo Lane – in the coastal village of Arpora in north Goa around 11.45pm on Saturday. The authorities have said electrically detonated pyroguns shot off during a belly dancing programme likely caused the deadly blaze.
A combination of factors — key safety lapses, including inadequate number of exits and use of pyroguns, a thatched roof and stacks of alcohol — intensified the fire, causing it to engulf the 300 square metre establishment in a matter of minutes.
Twenty of the victims were staffers at the club, while five were tourists.
In the first information report at 9.30am on Sunday, Goa Police booked the brothers along with other unnamed individuals for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 105), for acts endangering the lives and personal safety of others (125 (a) (b)), and for negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter (section 287) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
On Sunday, four people were arrested – chief general manager of the club Rajiv Modak, 49; gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, 32 – both residents of Delhi; bar manager Rajveer Singhania, 32, and general manager Vivek Singh, 27 – both residents of Uttar Pradesh.
On Monday, the police made a fifth arrest: Bharat Singh Kohli, 49, a resident of Punjabi Basti in New Delhi who was “managing the daily operations of the establishment on behalf of the owners.” “Investigation is progressing on priority, and further action will follow,” Rane said, adding that the police issued summons to government officials involved in issuing various permits and licences to the establishment to verify compliance lapses and procedural violations.
Police also issued notices to government officials Siddhi Halarnkar, Shamila Monteiro and Raghuvir Bagkar, who were suspended pending disciplinary proceedings for allegedly allowing the club to operate without permissions to report to the investigating officer. Police confirmed that the trio didn’t show up. According to eyewitnesses, at least 200 people were inside the club when the incident occurred. It could house up to 500 people. “It started when a belly dance performance was underway. The performers used some cold pyro sticks which upon ignition leapt skywards and came in contact with the ceiling made of bamboo, fibre and straw-type material. This caused some sparks and fumes on the roof and within a few minutes, the whole place was burning,” one of them said, requesting anonymity.
On Monday morning, Saurabh Luthra took to social media to express grief for the incident.
“The management expresses profound grief and is deeply shaken by the tragic loss of lives resulting from the unfortunate incident at Birch. In this hour of irreparable sorrow and overwhelming distress, the management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured, and conveys its heartfelt condolences with utmost sincerity,” Luthra said on Instagram.
“The management further affirms that it shall extend every possible assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved and affected individuals, as they navigate through this period of immense anguish and adversity,” he added.
Emails sent to the company seeking comments on the allegations didn’t elicit any response. The government has constituted a magisterial inquiry committee to “examine the sequence of events leading to the incidents, verify the compliances of all statutory licenses and determine the lapses and fix accountability on agencies/ departments responsible and recommend preventive and corrective measures.”
The committee comprises collector and district magistrate, North Goa, Ankit Yadav as chairperson, superintendent of police, South Goa, Tikam Singh Verma, director of the directorate of forensic sciences Ashutosh Apte, and deputy director of the directorate of fire & emergency services Rajendra A. Haldankar. On Monday, the inquiry committee visited the site as part of its probe.
The state opposition on Monday reiterated calls for the resignation of the chief minister Pramod Sawant. “The suspension of the three officials is nothing but an eyewash. If the Chief Minister has any moral conscience, he needs to resign. It is a big blot on Goa as a tourist destination,” South Goa Congress MP Viriato Fernandes, said.
Families of the victims demanded that action be taken against the owners. “It is because of their negligence that 25 lives are lost. If there was proper ventilation, exits and alarm systems none of this would have happened,” a cousin of Subhash Chhetri from Darjeeling in, who came to identify the body, said.
