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Goa nightclub fire: The Luthra brothers were produced before the JMFC Court, Mapusa, which remanded them in five-day police custody
Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, owners of Goa’s Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub (right), where a massive fire killed 25, upon their arrival in New Delhi. (PTI/File)
The Luthra brothers knowingly permitted and organised fireworks inside their nightclub in Goa, where a fire killed 25 on December 6, without adopting any security measures, the Goa police told a local court.
The police said the owners were fully aware that such an activity posed serious fire hazards and was likely to cause loss of life.
Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub, who were brought to Goa from Delhi earlier in the day after being deported from Thailand, were produced in a court in Mapusa after undergoing health check-up at the District Hospital in North Goa.
The accused have been remanded in five-day police custody.
Luthra brothers reached Goa on Wednesday morning
The duo had fled to Phuket in Thailand early on December 7, hours after the fire at their nightclub, prompting the authorities to issue an Interpol Blue Corner Notice and cancel their passports.
They were detained by Thai authorities at Phuket on December 11 following a request from the Indian government, which later coordinated with officials in Thailand to deport them under legal treaties between the two nations.
The Luthra brothers were arrested on Tuesday as soon as they landed in Delhi after being deported from Thailand. A court there allowed the Goa Police their two-day transit remand.
A team of the Goa Police, along with the Luthra brothers, arrived at the Manohar International Airport, Mopa, in North Goa at 10.45 am.
The duo was initially taken to a Primary Health Centre at Siolim for medical examination. They were later taken to the District Hospital at Mapusa. After their health assessment, which took over an hour, the two were taken to the Anjuna police station, about 10 km from there. They were subsequently produced in the court.
Violations at Goa nightclub
The Goa Police, in its first information report (FIR) into the fire, had highlighted the lapses at the nightclub.
The FIR stated that the fire show was organised by the club management without requisite permissions and precautions. The fire started on the first floor of the club, and the youngsters could not move out due to congestion and small doors.
“The restaurant did not have emergency exit on the ground or deck floor to evacuate people in case of emergency,” reads the FIR.
The FIR has been filed under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125, 125 (a), 125 (b) and 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
According to the FIR, the nightclub staged a high-risk fire performance despite having no extinguishers, sprinklers, alarms, or smoke-extraction systems. Investigators found that no fire audit had been conducted prior to opening, making the venue a severe fire hazard.
The Goa nightclub fire aftermath
After the fire tragedy at Arpora village, the Anjuna police had registered a case against the Luthra brothers on various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Five managers and staff members have already been arrested by the Goa Police in connection with the fire.
With PTI Inputs
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December 17, 2025, 6:45 PM IST
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