The Goa government has dismissed Raghuvir Bagkar, former Panchayat Secretary of Village Panchayat Arpora-Nagoa, holding him guilty of grave dereliction of duty and misconduct that allegedly contributed to the tragic fire at Birch by Romeo Lane, which claimed 25 lives. In a related development, Arpora Sarpanch Roshan Redkar has been disqualified from his post and banned from contesting panchayat elec-tions for five years.
The dismissal order, issued on December 31, 2025, by the Directorate of Panchayats, follows findings of a Magisterial Inquiry into the incident. The order states that Bagkar’s actions and omissions allowed the nightclub to operate illegally for an extended period, despite the absence of valid licences and clear violations of statutory norms.
According to the inquiry,
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Bagkar served as Panchayat Secretary between November 17, 2022, and July 3, 2025, during which he committed a series of serious irregularities in issuing and monitoring trade licences, house numbers, and approvals. The trade licence issued in December 2023 was not renewed beyond March 2024, yet the nightclub continued operations illegally Bagkar, aware of the lapse, failed to initiate action to seal the premises or notify other departments to cancel their respective permissions and NOCs, as required under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act.
The report highlighted that the licence application showed visible signs of forgery, lacked mandatory documents such as approved plans and owner-ship records, and referred to a house number that did not exist. Despite these discrepancies, the licence was processed and granted within days, described by the inquiry as undue haste.
Bagkar was also found to have issued house numbers and trade licences to multiple illegal structures on land recorded as salt pan and paddy fields, violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. Demolition notices issued in April 2024 were ignored, and he failed to defend the Panchayat’s demolition orders during appeals, resulting in stays being granted.
