The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out co ordinated searches across Goa, Delhi and Haryana after registering a money laun dering case linked to the fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, which claimed 25 lives in December last year. The searches were conducted at at least nine locations connected to the nightclub’s promoters, owners and alleged facilitators. These included premises linked to former Arpora–Nagoa sarpanch Roshan Redkar and former village panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar, officials said.
ED and Income Tax Department teams from Maharashtra raided Redkar’s residence in Arpora, as well as properties in Parra and Moira associated with Bagkar. Offices and res idences of brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra and their business partner Ajay Gupta at Kingsway Camp in Delhi, along with a property at Tatvam Villas in Gurugram, Harya na, were also searched. Bank statements, financial records and other documents were seized for further examination. Redkar was arrested after surrendering before a local court, while Bagkar was taken into custody after his bail plea was rejected. Senior officials said the action was taken under the Pre vention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after examining material shared by the Goa Police, which is probing crim inal negligence, illegal construction and regulatory viola tions that allegedly led to the December 6, 2025 fire. According to the ED, Redkar and Bagkar are accused of facilitating and issuing illegal trade licences and no-ob jection certificates (NOCs) that allowed the nightclub to operate despite serious safety and statutory violations. Investigators are also probing allegations that substantial bribes were paid to local officials to keep the establish ment running without valid permissions. The agency also searched premises linked to Surinder Kumar Khosla, a British national and one of the owners of the land on which the nightclub operated. The probe is examining alleged laundering of proceeds generated through the illegal conversion and commercial exploita tion of ‘khazan’ (salt pan) land, where construction is pro hibited. The Goa Police have secured a Red Corner Notice from Interpol against Khosla, who is currently not in India. Officials said the investigation has widened to trace the financial trail of the nightclub’s operations, including sus pected GST violations, undisclosed income and possible overseas remittances. Agencies are attempting to deter mine how large sums earned over the years were moved, invested or allegedly routed through hawala channels in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The Luthra brothers, who allegedly managed the night club, fled India within hours of the fire and travelled to Thailand. They were later deported to India on December 17 and are currently in Goa Police custody. Earlier this month, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the Goa Legislative Assembly that the nightclub had op erated under different names over the years and that the government would probe violations dating back to 1999. Authorities also demolished another Romeo Lane night club operated by the Luthras in Vagator after finding it was illegally constructed in a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) no-development area Reacting to the ED action, advocate Vishnu Joshi, coun sel for the victims’ families, welcomed the raids. “This is a day of justice for the families who lost their loved ones.
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It is important to find out how the business continued without valid licences, where the crores of rupees earned went, and whether money laundering, GST evasion or FEMA violations were involved,” he said. Officials said the ED probe is expected to intensify scru tiny of regulatory lapses, alleged political patronage and financial wrongdoing that allowed the nightclub to oper ate for years in violation of multiple laws, culminating in one of Goa’s deadliest nightlife tragedies.
