Goa nightclub fire: Luthra brothers to be deported from Thailand, set to arrive in Delhi today; transit remand likely

NEW DELHI/PANAJI: Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, wanted in connection with the fire that claimed 25 lives at their nightclub in Goa on Dec 6, are expected to be deported from Thailand to India on Tuesday.

Sources said the brothers are set to arrive at Delhi's IGI Airport on an Indigo flight from Bangkok at around 1.45 pm. They will be taken by a team of Delhi crime branch and Goa Police to Patiala House Court where their transit remand will be sought. The two are likely to be flown to Goa by Tuesday night, Goa DGP Alok Kumar said.


A special team comprising CBI and intelligence officials landed in Phuket last Saturday to complete the deportation process.

The brothers fled to Thailand even as police and fire fighters were battling the blaze at Birch By Romeo Lane and rescuing those trapped. The regional passport office, New Delhi, subsequently issued a notice to them, seeking an explanation from both as to why action should not be initiated to impound their passports within seven days.

Once a lookout notice against them was issued, the ministry of external affairs decided to impound their passports, which meant that they were staying in Thailand without valid travel documents. The brothers were then detained by Thai authorities from Hotel Indigo in Phuket for staying in the country illegally and brought to a detention centre in Bangkok.

Indian embassy in Thailand issued an emergency certificate — a one-way travel document — to the Luthras since their passport had been suspended by Indian govt.

The two countries signed a formal extradition treaty in 2013, which came into force on June 29, 2015.

Goa Police's investigation into the blaze at the Arpora nightclub revealed that over the past 18 months, it had been operating illegally without requisite permissions and on an expired licence. A senior police officer who is part of the investigation said that the instrument of licence was not renewed as the nightclub did not obtain permissions since 2024. However, despite these glaring lapses, not a single authority took action against Birch.

So far, Goa Police have arrested Gurgaon resident Ajay Gupta (55), a partner of the Luthra brothers; Rajiv Modak (49), Birch's chief general manager; gate manager Priyanshu Thakur (32); bar manager Rajveer Singhania (32); general manager Vivek Singh (27); and Bharat Kohli.

When the fire broke out at the nightclub at around 11.45pm on Dec 6, there were more than 150 tourists attending an event. A preliminary investigation by police and directorate of fire services concluded that the blaze was triggered after electric firecrackers struck the wooden ceiling of the nightclub.