Luthra brothers, owners of Goa club where fire killed 25, deported to Delhi from Thailand
The Luthra brothers had fled to Thailand within two hours of the fire in their club in north Goa's Arpora.
Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, the owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa, where a deadly fire killed 25 people, have been brought back to Delhi from Thailand, say officials.
The deportation process for the Luthra brothers began during the weekend as a court in Delhi denied anticipatory bail to them.
The Delhi-based entrepreneurs had fled to Thailand's Phuket just 90 minutes after the December 6 blaze at their nightclub in north Goa's Arpora killed 25 people.
Goa police is set to take custody of the brothers from New Delhi.
The brothers were detained by Thai law enforcement officials at their hotel in Phuket last week, on the basis of a request from New Delhi. The Indian government approached international authorities and issued a Blue Notice via Interpol.
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The Indian Embassy had earlier issued two emergency certificates after their passports were impounded and later cancelled by the ministry of external affairs.
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra would be produced before a Delhi court on Tuesday to seek transit remand.
An FIR was registered against the brothers last Sunday, charging them 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 said a legal team representing the Luthras had travelled to Thailand and met with the brothers at an immigration detention centre where they were being held, HT reported earlier.
ALSO READ | Goa Police vs Luthras: Murder charges, midnight escape, and a claim of willing return from Phuket
Six people, including five managerial staff and Ajay Gupta, have been named in the case so far. Gupta was identified as a business partner of the Luthras who ran the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub.
Additionally, a seventh person, Surinder Kumar Khosla, is also being hunted for by the police. Khosla is the British property owner who signed a 2023 lease with Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP, the firm under which the club operated. Khosla is believed to be out of the country.
The Indian Embassy had earlier issued two emergency certificates after their passports were impounded and later cancelled by the ministry of external affairs.
What happened on December 5?
A massive fire tore through the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora on December 6, killing 25 people, including a family of four from Delhi, around 11:45 pm.
Authorities said that even as the fire was raging through the nightclub, the Luthra brothers booked tickets to Thailand at 1:17 am on Sunday and flew out at 5:30 am on the same day. A lookout notice was issued against the brothers roughly 24 hours later.
Anticipatory bail denied
Last week, a Delhi court refused to grant anticipatory bail to Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra. While the brothers argued before the court that they had gone to Phuket for work, the Goa police dismissed their claims, saying that the duo had no business in Thailand.
Police also said that the Luthra brothers showed no cooperation during the probe and had also misled the authorities when they left India.
The counsel for the Luthra brothers also told the court that the businessmen were not absconders and were ready to join the probe in the Goa nightclub fire case.
