Delhi's 'model' family to Goa nightclub blaze fugitives: Neighbours grapple with Luthra brothers' stunning fall

For their stunned neighbours, the transformation of the “friendly” brothers into internationally wanted men is a narrative of shocking dislocation.

A sign wishing for good fortune hangs at the gate of a four-storeyed house in Mukherjee Nagar's upscale enclave of Outram Lines. Inside, the stillness is absolute: doors are bolted, curtains are drawn and a solitary black Labrador stands guard.

The property's owners, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, are not at home; they are the subjects of an international search, wanted for questioning after a fire at their nightclub in Goa killed 25 people and alleged to have fled to Phuket.

For their stunned neighbours, the transformation of the “friendly” brothers into internationally wanted men is a narrative of shocking dislocation, as reported by TOI. The community, which knew the family as deeply religious and upstanding pillars, is grappling with the juxtaposition of their decades-long local reputation against the backdrop of tragedy and flight.

The family’s roots in the area stretch back 35 years, following a move from Mori Gate. Before paralysis abruptly halted his life, the brothers’ father ran a successful business supplying laboratory materials and operating a printing press. His illness a decade ago, suffered while travelling on a train, became a pivotal moment. With the sons still in college at the time, the family, led matriarch Shashi, revived its fortunes through neighbourhood clothing boutiques.

“Their father is paralysed and mostly stays indoors as he has problems walking,” a neighbour was cited by TOI as saying.

It was after completing their degrees that Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra entered the hospitality sector. Their entrepreneurial journey began with popular campus-area ventures in Hudson Lane, including the once-crowded Mama's Buoi cafe, which opened in 2016. This trajectory ultimately led them to the coastal party capital of Goa and the fateful nightclub.

Their former company base, GS Foodstudio Pvt Ltd, in Hudson Lane was reportedly found to have been converted into a girls’ paying guest accommodation. A security guard recalled the brothers visiting until about three years ago, noting they “usually kept to themselves” before the office shifted to Model Town.

The family's local standing, however, was built on a very different character. Neighbours described matriarch Shashi Luthra as the family's pillar and a vibrant community figure, widely known for leading sermons at the local temple and for her consistently positive demeanour, according to a long-time neighbour who spoke to TOI.

This entrenched reputation has made the current situation all the more bewildering for the Outram Lines community. That same neighbour emphasised that the family's conduct had always been considered exemplary by local consensus, making their sudden disappearance and alleged flight seem profoundly out of character.

While neighbours last saw family members on the day of the blaze, with one claiming a sighting of the brothers’ children as recently as Sunday night, the central figures, Gaurav and Saurabh, are now conspicuously absent.