'Will pick them up and put them behind bars': CM Pramod Sawant on Luthra brothers after deadly Goa nightclub fire

Pramod Sawant

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has vowed that Saurav and Gaurav Luthra, the brothers who own the Arpora nightclub Birch where a massive fire killed 25 people, will not be able to evade the law, even as they remain in Thailand seeking protection from arrest.

Investigators say the Luthras flew to Thailand on December 6, around the same time emergency crews were battling the inferno at the Birch and attempting to pull out those trapped inside. They are currently in Phuket, and have filed for pre-arrest bail from abroad.

In a conversation with NDTV, Chief Minister Sawant said, “Whether it is Thailand or anywhere else, we will pick them up from there and put them behind bars.”

Police have booked the brothers for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after discovering extensive violations across the Birch and other properties linked to them.

The fire, which broke out on the night of December 6, reportedly started after a pyrotechnics display malfunctioned.

After the fire broke out, the bamboo-heavy interior turned into a massive ball of fire and it became increasingly difficult for anyone to escape through the narrow access route. Officials later confirmed that the nightclub lacked mandatory safety permissions.

Sawant said that any other structures operating outside the law will face consequences, stating, “If there are any other illegal properties, definitely they will be demolished.”

He outlined the committees formed to investigate the disaster: a Magistral Committee to conduct an overarching inquiry, an Audit Committee to evaluate structural safety, and an Enforcement Committee tasked with field inspections. “The report of the Magistral Committee will come… They do the structural audit… They will go to the field and check the structure like this. And after the report comes, the major violation that someone has done will be stopped,” he said.

Sawant also noted that another review meeting was held today with key officials. “We have said that for the coming season, it is Christmas, 31st of December, in this kind of season, no major incident like this should repeat,” he added.

On Tuesday, parts of Romeo Lane, a Vagator beach establishment owned by the Luthras, were demolished as per the Chief Minister’s orders.

In their plea for anticipatory bail, the Luthra brothers insisted they were also “victims,” claiming that daily operations of the Birch were managed entirely by partners and staff, not by them personally.

They further argued they cannot be held criminally accountable since they were not present at the venue when the blaze erupted.

The court has declined to grant them immediate protection, and the matter will next be heard on Thursday.