New Delhi: The Thai authorities Thursday detained Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Goa’s Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where 25 people were killed in a deadly fire incident this weekend.
The detention was in response to the Blue Corner notice issued against them by Interpol on the inputs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The nodal agency for Interpol in the country, the CBI had presented the case of the Goa Police which had booked the Luthra brothers and was looking for their custody.
“They have been taken into custody by the Thai authorities and will be deported soon,” a government source told ThePrint.
Both brothers had booked their tickets to Thailand’s Phuket a little over 90 minutes after the Goa fire department was alerted about the fire at their nightclub in Arpora village of North Goa. A total of 25 people, including at least 15 staff, died in the incident.
Hours after the incident, the Goa Police booked the Luthra brothers and other managers of the nightclub and opened a Look Out Circular against them. However, the duo had already fled India on a 5.30 am flight from Delhi Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Goa Police are all set to file a response before a Delhi court Thursday in counter to the transit anticipatory bail application filed by the brothers. The Rohini court Wednesday rejected their plea for immediate relief and protection from arrest and kept the matter pending for hearing for Thursday afternoon.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also read: Goa nightclub fire eyewitnesses point to flowerpot crackers & bamboo ceiling—‘inferno in 5 mins’

