Brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the homeowners of Birch by Romeo Lane, the Goa membership the place 25 folks died in a fireplace late Saturday night time, are believed to have left the nation for Thailand, the Goa Police mentioned in a press release.
“Quickly after the establishment of an FIR, police moved swiftly and dispatched a staff to Delhi to conduct raids on the addresses of the accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra. Since they weren’t accessible, a discover beneath the suitable sections of regulation was pasted on their home. By the night of December 7 (Sunday), a lookout round (LOC) was issued in opposition to them by the Bureau of Immigration on the request of the Goa Police,” the assertion mentioned.
A senior police officer mentioned the brothers have been in Delhi when the incident occurred on Saturday midnight. “When the Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai was contacted, it was discovered that each the accused had taken a flight to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, that’s hours after the incident,” an officer mentioned, including that the Goa Police has reached out to the Interpol Division of the CBI to apprehend the 2.
In keeping with sources, the CBI is prone to request the Interpol to situation a Blue Nook Discover in opposition to the brothers. The Blue Discover is issued to gather further details about an individual’s id, location or actions in relation to a prison investigation.
On Monday, Saurabh Luthra posted a press release on Instagram saying: “The administration expresses profound grief and is deeply shaken by the tragic lack of lives ensuing from the unlucky incident at Birch. On this hour of irreparable sorrow and overwhelming misery, the administration stands in unwavering solidarity with the households of the deceased in addition to these injured… The administration additional affirms that it shall prolong each attainable type of help, help and cooperation to the bereaved and affected people.”
India and Thailand have an extradition treaty, operational since 2015.
Going through a fall from grace, the Luthras have had a meteoric rise within the meals and beverage business, with shops in a number of cities and in addition overseas, having began out solely a decade in the past.
Delhi-born Saurabh Luthra, the Chairman of Romeo Lane, has a B.Tech diploma in Pc Science and labored within the company sector as a enterprise improvement supervisor for a decade, earlier than turning an entrepreneur. He began with a cafe-cum-lounge, ‘Mama’s Buoi’, and a bar referred to as ‘Dramebaaz’ in North-East Delhi’s Hudson Lane
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It was ‘Romeo Lane’ which put the brothers on the hospitality map, with the 2 aggressively increasing and launching premier restrobars and rooftop eating places in over 30 cities – together with Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Goa, Bhopal, Indore, Dehradun, Lucknow – in addition to Dubai. The model additionally has a boutique lodge in Goa.
Their portfolio of eating places and bars contains Romeo Lane, Birch, Caha and Mama’s Buoi. In Goa, the duo marketed Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora as “India’s first island bar” when it opened just a few years in the past.
The Romeo Lane’s web site describes Luthra as a “gold medalist” engineer, and “fastest-growing restaurateur”. He’s “identified for his public relations and natural cocktails served at his shops”, it provides. The web site claims he was named “iconic restaurateur” in 2023 and has a number of prestigious awards and recognition to his credit score. He recurrently featured in media shops within the checklist of ’40 beneath 40’ entrepreneurs, with articles praising him for “redefining hospitality area”.
Gaurav Luthra is listed as a founding father of Romeo Lane, Birch and Caha on his social media profile.
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The brothers stay in North Delhi’s Outram Lane close to GTB Nagar Metro Station, near the place they began their first shops. It was right here that the Goa Police carried out raids on Monday.
In 2024, certainly one of their golf equipment positioned in North Delhi acquired a show-cause discover from Municipal Company of Delhi concerning sitting association limitations and poor hygiene within the kitchen. It was later rectified.
The identical yr, in December, Romeo Lane was amongst seven golf equipment in Goa that have been issued a discover by the Goa State Air pollution Management Board for violating sound air pollution norms.
In reference to the fireplace at Birch, police have lodged an FIR and fees of culpable murder in opposition to the Luthras, the supervisor of the outlet, and the occasion organiser of the night when the incident occurred. The Delhi Police Crime Department, which is helping the Goa Police in searches within the Capital, mentioned the Luthras are believed to have had a co-owner within the Goa Birch nightclub. “It’s suspected that he’s at the moment in Delhi, and a staff is trying to find him,” an officer mentioned.
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The FIR within the Birch fireplace case flags lapses such because the absence of fireside security gear and emergency exit on the night time membership, and the shortage of required permissions / licences. 4 folks have been arrested on Sunday, together with the membership’s chief common supervisor, Rajiv Modak (49), gate supervisor Priyanshu Thakur (32), bar supervisor Rajveer Singhania (32), and common supervisor Vivek Singh (27). On Monday, police arrested a fifth particular person, Bharat Singh, who ran every day operations on the membership, from Delhi.
In a press release Monday, the workplace of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant mentioned that the sarpanch of Arpora the place Birch is positioned had signed NoCs for electrical energy connection, water connection, home repairs to the outlet, and gave it a commerce licence, amongst different permissions. “The premises continued to run after the expiry of the commerce licence (in) March 2024. Underneath Part 72-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, the native physique is empowered to seal such premises. Nonetheless, they failed to take action.”
This got here after panchayat officers mentioned they’d issued orders to demolish Birch, however that this had been stalled by increased authorities.
The CMO assertion mentioned that every one the deceased within the fireplace tragedy had been recognized, and mortal stays of 20 shifted to their native locations. “Additional the 2 different business institutions by title Romeo Lane have been sealed by Income authorities. All of the paperwork are being scrutinised.”
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In mild of the fireplace, the Goa State Catastrophe Administration Authority has issued an advisory to all nightclubs, eating places, bars, occasion venues, and related institutions working throughout the state, to make sure strict compliance with prescribed fireplace security, electrical security, emergency preparedness, and structural security norms.
The advisory additionally directed all institutions to conduct an inside security audit inside seven days and hold the report prepared for inspection by the district administration, fireplace providers, or SDMA-authorised groups.
The federal government has constituted a committee for a magisterial inquiry into the sequence of occasions resulting in the fireplace. The four-member committee is headed by Collector, North, Ankit Yadav. Officers mentioned the committee will confirm the compliances of all statutory licences and decide the lapses, repair accountability, and advocate preventive and corrective measures. The committee has been tasked to submit the report inside per week.
The Goa Police mentioned authorities officers concerned in issuing permits and licences to the nightclub have been referred to as for investigation.
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