A man has come up with claims that the land on which the now-ravaged Birch by Romeo Lane stands in Goa’s Arpora, was quietly taken over by Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra to build the club.
Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar said he had signed a sale agreement for the land with one Surinder Kumar Khosla in 2004, but it fell through within six months as he did not receive the payment. Kholsa then set up a nightclub on the area, which was later taken over by Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane.
On December 6, a massive fire ripped through the nightclub in North Goa, killing 25 people, mostly tourists and staff.
“For 21 years, I have been fighting in courts to get back my land in Arpora, which has been wrongfully occupied,” Amonkar says, adding that he is currently engaged in a court battle against Khosla over the land.
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While the case proceeds, the “owner” says he learned on Thursday that a portion of the property was also converted from a salt pan to a settlement zone without his knowledge, to benefit the club.
No notice was served to him concerning the zone change, he adds, flummoxed.
“How can a salt pan be converted into a settlement zone?” Amonkar asks, saying he only learnt it while preparing documents to move the high court against the club in connection with the fire tragedy.
A senior Goa Town and Country Planning official said that since an inquiry into this matter is underway, it would not be appropriate for the department to respond to Amonkar’s allegations.
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