Goa inferno: Luthra brothers brought back from Bangkok to India to face police probe

Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of a Goa nightclub wanted in connection with the December 6 fire that killed 25 people, arrived in India on Tuesday after being deported from Bangkok while travelling on an emergency certificate, officials said.

The duo will be produced before the Patiala House Court by a joint team of the Delhi Crime Branch and Goa Police, where investigators will seek their transit remand. They are expected to be flown to Goa by Tuesday night.

Goa fire

A fire that broke out on December 6 at Birch by Romeo Lane, a club linked to the Luthra brothers, claimed 25 lives, including 20 employees and five tourists. According to investigators, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra left the country for Phuket, Thailand, on an IndiGo flight within hours of the incident, even as emergency teams were still battling the blaze.

Police have booked the brothers under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 105 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Sections 125(a) and (b) for acts endangering life and personal safety, and Section 287 for negligent handling of fire or combustible material, the Hindustan Times reported_._

At the request of Indian authorities, the Luthras were detained in Thailand last week, following which deportation proceedings were initiated to bring them back to India.

The brothers have denied accusations that they fled after the tragedy, maintaining that they were in Thailand for a business meeting. They also claimed they were only licence holders and not the actual owners of the nightclub. Seeking interim relief, they approached a Delhi court for four weeks of transit anticipatory bail, but the plea was rejected.

Citing the “conduct” of the applicants and the seriousness of the case, the court said it was not inclined to grant the relief sought. “The nature of offence, prima facie, is grave and serious in nature where 25 people have lost their lives,” the judge observed.