Authorities in Goa on Tuesday initiated the demolition of Romeo Lane, the Vagator beach shack owned by brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra — who also operate Birch, the Arpora club where a weekend fire claimed 25 lives. The action, ordered by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, began Tuesday evening, according to PTI, with videos on social media showing bulldozers at the site.
The demolition comes as the search intensifies for the Luthra brothers, who fled to Thailand shortly after the blaze gutted their nightclub-restaurant, Birch by Romeo Lane, late Saturday. Police said the duo boarded an IndiGo flight from New Delhi to Phuket at 5:30 am on Sunday, just hours after the tragedy. A lookout notice had been issued through the Bureau of Immigration.
DSP and PRO Nilesh Rane confirmed that immigration authorities in Mumbai verified the brothers had taken flight 6E 1073 on December 7. Indian agencies are now working with Thai officials to track the pair in Phuket and seek their deportation based on an arrest warrant, aiming to bypass a lengthy extradition process. Police teams who visited the Luthras’ North Delhi home on Monday reported them missing.
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Arpora fire tragedy
The fire at Birch by Romeo Lane broke out around 11:45 pm on Saturday, rapidly engulfing the 300 sq m premises. Among the 25 victims, 20 were staff members and five were tourists, including four from one Delhi family.
An FIR filed at 9:30 am Sunday names the Luthra brothers and others under sections related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, endangering life, and negligent handling of fire or combustible materials under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Four staff members — chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania, and general manager Vivek Singh — were arrested on Sunday. A fifth person, Bharat Singh.
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