The international hunt for two owners of the fire-ravaged Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub intensified on Tuesday after Interpol issued a Blue Notice against Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who fled India hours after the inferno that killed 25 people in Arpora late Saturday night. Officials said the Goa Police approached the CBI soon after learning that the broth-ers had escaped abroad. The CBI, in turn, requested Inter-pol’s assistance to track their movement. A photo of Gaurav Luthra at Thailand’s Phuket airport during an immigra-tion check has been making the rounds on social media. A Blue No-tice alerts all 196-member coun-tries to help gath-er information on Thailand’s airport during an check a person’s identity, location or activities during an ongoing crim-inal investigation. The Luthras are believed to be among four owners of the club. The Goa Police on Tuesday also issued a Look Out Circu lar (LOC) against the other two — Ajay Gupta and Surinder Kumar Khosla, the latter a British national — to prevent any attempt to leave India as investigators close in on those linked to the illegal operations and alleged safety lapses at the establishment. DIG of Police Varsha Sharma said all avenues, including international coordination, were being used to secure the return of the Luthra brothers. “FIRs have been registered against the Luthra brothers and all other identified accused. We have already arrested five operational staff members, each of whom had a specific role in running the club. We have now confirmed that the owners are in Phuket. Look Out Circulars and Blue Corner Notices have been issued, and we are taking the help of Interpol and the CBI to bring them back. At pres ent, we are investigating the names that have come on record, and if further involvement of others is established during the investigation, they too will be arrested,” she said. Sharma also confirmed that two government officials — former Director of Panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar and former Goa State Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Sham ila Monteiro — have been summoned to join the probe amid scrutiny of official oversight and licensing processes.
Interpol, CBI launch search for fugitive nightclub owners
