The two main accused in the devastating Goa nightclub fire that claimed 25 lives are finally being brought back to India to face justice. Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the ill-fated 'Birch By Romeo Lane' in Arpora, are expected to be deported from Thailand and land in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Deportation Process and Arrest
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra are scheduled to arrive at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport around 1:45 pm on an Indigo flight from Bangkok. A joint team from the Delhi Crime Branch and Goa Police will receive them and promptly produce the brothers before the Patiala House Court to seek transit remand. According to Goa's Director General of Police, Alok Kumar, the plan is to fly them to Goa by Tuesday night itself.
The wheels for this deportation were set in motion last Saturday when a special team of CBI and intelligence officials landed in Phuket to coordinate with Thai authorities. The Luthra brothers had fled to Thailand even as emergency services were battling the horrific blaze at their nightclub on the night of December 6.
A Trail of Lapses and Illegal Operations
The investigation by Goa Police has uncovered shocking regulatory failures. It was revealed that the nightclub had been operating illegally for the past 18 months without the requisite permissions and on an expired licence. A senior investigating officer stated that the licence was not renewed as the establishment failed to obtain necessary permissions since 2024. Despite these glaring violations, no authority took action against 'Birch'.
The tragic incident occurred around 11:45 pm on December 6, when over 150 tourists were present at the venue for an event. A preliminary probe by police and the directorate of fire services concluded that the fire was triggered after electric firecrackers struck the nightclub's wooden ceiling.
How the Net Closed on the Fugitives
After the brothers fled, the Regional Passport Office in New Delhi issued them a notice, demanding an explanation within seven days for why their passports should not be impounded. Following the issuance of a lookout notice, the Ministry of External Affairs took the decision to impound their passports. This action rendered the Luthras' stay in Thailand illegal, as they no longer possessed valid travel documents.
Thai authorities subsequently detained the brothers from the Hotel Indigo in Phuket for staying in the country illegally and moved them to a detention centre in Bangkok. With their Indian passports suspended, the Indian Embassy in Thailand issued an Emergency Certificate—a one-way travel document—to facilitate their return. The formal extradition treaty signed between India and Thailand in 2013, which came into force in June 2015, provided the legal framework for this process.
So far, the police have arrested several other individuals connected to the case. These include Gurgaon resident Ajay Gupta (55), a partner of the Luthra brothers; the nightclub's chief general manager Rajiv Modak (49); gate manager Priyanshu Thakur (32); bar manager Rajveer Singhania (32); general manager Vivek Singh (27); and Bharat Kohli.
The expected deportation marks a critical step in the quest for accountability for one of Goa's deadliest fire tragedies, highlighting international cooperation and a thorough domestic investigation into the series of failures that led to the loss of 25 lives.
