Delhi-based entrepreneurs Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who fled to Thailand just hours after a devastating fire at their north Goa nightclub on December 5 claimed 25 lives, are expected to be deported back to India and brought to Delhi on Tuesday, according to a Goa police officer.
A team from the Goa police is being dispatched to New Delhi to take custody of the two brothers, the officer added.
The Luthra brothers were detained by Thai authorities at their hotel in Phuket last week, following a formal request from Indian authorities. The Indian government has impounded their passports and issued a Blue Corner notice through Interpol to locate and detain them.
The same Goa police officer stated that they have been directed to prepare for taking custody of the Luthra brothers once the pair is deported from Bangkok to India on Tuesday. The brothers are scheduled to be produced before a Delhi court on Tuesday itself to obtain transit remand.
“A team from Goa Police will leave for Delhi later tonight and will be present to secure their custody when they exit the Delhi airport,” the officer quoted above said.
An FIR was registered 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 sources revealed that a legal team representing the Luthras has travelled to Thailand and met the brothers at the immigration detention centre where they are currently being held.
Also Read: Goa nightclub fire: Original ‘owner’ claims land quietly usurped
Before deportation to India can proceed, the brothers will be presented before a Thai court. The Indian Embassy has issued emergency certificates to the duo after their passports were initially impounded and subsequently cancelled by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Six individuals in total—five managerial staff members and a sixth person, Ajay Gupta, identified as a business partner of the Luthras who operated the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora—have been named in the case. Authorities are also searching for a seventh suspect, Surinder Kumar Khosla, a British national who owns the property and signed a 2023 lease agreement with Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP, the company under which the nightclub functioned. The Luthra brothers and Gupta are listed as partners in the firm.
Khosla is believed to be outside the country. Police have stated that the property lacked essential approvals, including a construction licence, occupancy certificate, and fire department No Objection Certificate (NOC), and had even received a demolition notice.
Also Read: How stepping out for meal led to Luthra brothers' arrest
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