New Delhi [India], December 16 : The Goa Police has formally arrested the Luthra brothers-Gaurav and Saurabh from the Immigration control at New Delhi International airport on Tuesday after they were deported from Thailand. A team from the Goa Police had been present at the Airport to take custody of the brothers.
The brothers are the owners of the Goa Nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane where 25 people had been killed in a fire on December 6. After fleeing to Phuket on the morning after the fire the brothers were detained and then deported this morning to Indian
The accused duo will be produced before the Patiala House court in the national capital, following which the Goa police will take them to Goa.
The siblings, owners of the 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub, were detained by Thai Police from a resort in Phuket after India moved to suspend their passports and requested the Thai authorities to deport them. An Indian law enforcement team coordinated formalities for the brother's return. On Tuesday morning the brothers were formally deported to India.
An extradition treaty between India and Thailand has been in force since 2015. Thai officials stressed that due process was followed as part of the cooperation between the two countries, leading to the prompt, lawful handover of the brothers.
The Goa Police had filed a criminal case dated December 07 at the Police Station Arpora Anjuna, North Goa, under sections 105, 125, 125(a), 125(b), and 287, read with 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.
The FIR states that on December 6, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, the accused persons, had organised a fire show at the restaurant Birch by Romeo Lane, Arpora, without taking proper precautions and without providing fire safety equipment and other safety measures. The fire show resulted in a blaze, due to which 25 innocent people, including tourists and staff, succumbed to death and many others were seriously injured.
The Luthra brothers, despite knowing that the restaurant does not have emergency exit doors on the ground or deck floors for evacuation in an emergency, organised the fire show.