The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Mapusa, on Wednesday remanded Gaurav and Sau rabh Luthra, owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane night club at Arpora, to five days’ police custody in connec tion with the devastating fire incident that claimed 25 lives on December 7. The brothers were pro duced before the court af ter undergoing a series of medical examinations fol lowing their arrival in the State earlier in the day. A Goa Police team, accompa nied by the accused, landed at Manohar International Airport, Mopa, at around 10.45 am. After complet ing formalities, the Anjuna police escorted the duo to the Primary Health Centre at Siolim for an initial med ical check-up, following which they were taken to the North Goa District Hos pital at Mapusa for further examination. The process lasted over an hour. A heavy police convoy, comprising six jeeps, es corted the accused from the airport to the medical facil ities. Eyewitnesses said the two brothers were trans ported in separate vehicles. After the medical exam inations, the Luthras were produced before JMFC Puja Sardesai at Mapusa, where the Anjuna police sought
10 days of police custody to further their investiga tion into the fire tragedy. The hearing, however, was briefly interrupted when one of the accused complained of chest pain and was taken back to the district hospital for eval uation. Following the re sumption of proceedings, the court granted five days’ police custody of both the accused. Advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing Bhavana Joshi from Delhi, who lost four members of her fam ily in the blaze, told the court that the accused were seeking “special con sideration” on the grounds of ill health. “We said they should not be given any extra relaxation. The State government advocate also opposed it,” he said, adding that the court had taken cognisance of the fact that the case involved the death of “25 people in the form of mass genocide.” “But since they kept pressing for medical check up, the court ordered re-ex amination of their health. It became clear in the medi cal examination that they don’t require any consider ation. The accused sought special considerations in the lock-up like a good mattress, which the court refused,” Joshi said.
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The Anjuna police have registered offences against the Luthra brothers under Sections 105, 125, 125(a), 125(b) and 287 read with Section 3(5) of the BharatiyaNyayaS anhita, 2023. The charges include culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other serious offences linked to negligence and safety violations. The Luthra brothers were arrested in Delhi on Tuesday shortly after being deported from Thailand. A court there had granted the Goa Police a two-day transit remand. The duo had fled to Phuket within hours of the fire on Decem ber 7, prompting authorities to issue an Interpol Blue Cor ner Notice and cancel their passports. They were detained by Thai authorities in Phuket on December 11 following a request from the Indian government, and subsequently deported under legal treaties between the two countries. Five managers and staff members of the nightclub have already been arrested in connection with the case. The Luthra brothers are scheduled to be produced before the court again on December 22 as the investigation continues.
