After being deported from Thailand, Goa Police on Tuesday formally arrested the Luthra brothers – Gaurav and Saurabh – from the immigration control center at New Delhi International Airport. A team of Goa Police was present at the airport to take the brothers into custody.
These two brothers are the owners of Goa’s nightclub ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’, where 25 people died in a fire on December 6. The brothers were detained after fleeing to Phuket the morning after the fire and then deported to India this morning.
The accused will be produced before the Patiala House Court in the national capital, after which the Goa Police will take them to Goa.
The brother-sister owners of ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub were detained by Thai police from a resort in Phuket after India suspended their passports and requested Thai authorities to deport them.
The Indian law enforcement team coordinated the formalities for the brothers’ return. Both the brothers were formally sent to India on Tuesday morning.
An extradition treaty between India and Thailand is in force since 2015. Thai authorities stressed that due process was followed as part of cooperation between the two countries, resulting in the brothers being handed over quickly and legally.
Goa Police had registered a criminal case under sections 105, 125, 125(A), 125(B) and 287 read with section 3(5) of the Indian Judicial Code 2023 at Arpora Anjuna police station in North Goa on December 7.
The FIR states that on December 6, accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra had organized a fire demonstration at ‘Birch’ restaurant in Romeo Lane, Arpora, without taking proper precautions and without providing fire safety equipment and other safety measures.
This fire display resulted in a massive fire that killed 25 innocent people, including tourists and staff, and seriously injured many others.
The Luthra brothers staged the fire demonstration despite the fact that there were no emergency exits on the ground floor or deck of the restaurant for emergency evacuation.
