Panaji/New Delhi | Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub in North Goa where a blaze claimed 25 lives, have been detained by the authorities in Thailand, officials said on Thursday, as a Delhi court rejected their transit anticipatory bail pleas citing the duo's conduct and the gravity of the offences.
The brothers, prime accused in the case related to the tragedy that unfolded at Arpora village around midnight on December 6, would be brought back to India at the earliest to face legal action, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured in Panaji.
A court in Goa, meanwhile, remanded Ajay Gupta, who claimed to be a silent partner and investor in the nightclub, in police custody for seven days.
A Delhi court rejected the transit anticipatory bail pleas of Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra. The duo had sought four weeks of transit anticipatory bail so that they were not immediately arrested on their return, but Additional Sessions Judge Vandana dismissed the pleas.
"They left, they concealed, and they are now seeking leniency,” the Goa government's lawyer told the court, pointing out that they had fled immediately after the fire incident and were evading the legal process.
One of the lawyers of the Luthras submitted during the hearing that they were willing to return immediately and face the investigation.
But the court noted that the offence was serious in nature as 25 people lost their lives in the fire. Given the “conduct” of the applicants and nature of the allegations, the court was not inclined to grant them relief, the judge said.
She pointed out that documents showed that the accused booked tickets to Phuket at 1.17 AM on December 7 (over an hour after the fire broke out), and the flight departed at 5.20 AM.
This fact was “concealed”, and their counsel instead stated that they had left for Thailand before the fire broke out, the judge said.
The licence agreement, trade licence and lease deed of the club had expired, said the court.
It also trashed the medical grounds cited by Gaurav Luthra, noting that his own lawyer stated that his condition was not such that he cannot travel to another country. The medical documents were old, and do not reflect any serious medical conditions, the judge said.
There was no explanation why the Luthras failed to approach the competent court having territorial jurisdiction in Goa, she added, while clarifying that the brothers were at liberty to approach the competent court for seeking appropriate relief.
In Goa, the administration continued its drive against illegalities at nightclubs and other tourism establishments, sealing `Goya The Night Club' at Vagator on the ground that it had been constructed on agricultural land.
The state also banned the use of fireworks, sparklers, pyrotechnic effects, flame thrower-type devices, smoke generators and similar equipment inside tourist establishments. Fireworks were said to have caused the blaze at Birch by Romeo Lane.
Gaurav Luthra, 44, and his brother Saurabh, 40, fled to Phuket within hours after the fire broke out at their club. An Interpol Blue Corner notice was issued on December 9 following a request from the Goa police routed through the CBI.
The Goa police said the two brothers are accused of injury causing death, manslaughter and murder by organising a fire show “without taking proper care and caution and without providing fire safety equipment, other safety gadgets.”
According to officials, their deportation has been initiated, and the two would be brought to India after completion of exit formalities in Thailand.
As soon as the news of the detention of the Luthra brothers emerged, pictures with handcuffs holding their passports started appearing on social media.
In New Delhi, Union Minister of State for Renewable Energy Shripad Naik, who hails from Goa, told reporters outside Parliament House “yes, both of them are arrested” and wondered why they ran away when such a big tragedy had happened. “Where will they run,” he asked.
In a related development, a Goa court on Thursday remanded Ajay Gupta, a partner in the fire-ravaged nightclub, in seven days of police custody. He was brought from Delhi on Wednesday night.
The police had sought ten days of custody, but the court in Mapusa town granted seven, Gupta’s lawyer Rohan Desai said, adding that his client is “completely cooperating with the investigating agency”.
As he was being escorted by police, Gupta told reporters he had no operational role in the facility. “I don’t know anything. I have no involvement. I was a sleeping partner and had no say in the operations of the club,” he said.
Gupta’s arrest follows the issuance of a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him. Besides him, the Goa police have arrested five managers and staff members of the nightclub.
Chief Minister Sawant told reporters in Panaji that a team of Goa Police and CBI would bring the Luthra brothers back to India "as soon as possible".
Arpora panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar, suspended after the fire tragedy, was not cooperating with the probe and would be arrested, he said.
