Fled in IndiGo, hid at Indigo, return in IndiGo: Goa nightclub fire accused Luthra brothers deported from Thailand; to land in Delhi at 1.45pm

NEW DELHI: Goa nightclub owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, wanted in connection with the December 6 fire that claimed 25 lives, were sent back to India from Bangkok on an "emergency certificate" on Tuesday morning.

As reported by TOI today, the duo boarded an Indigo flight and were likely to arrive at Delhi's IGI airport around 1.45 pm. The duo was spotted at the airport wearing masks and surrounded by immigration security officials.


Upon arrival, they will be taken to the Patiala House Court by a team of Delhi crime branch and Goa Police, where their transit remand will be sought. The brothers will likely be flown to Goa by Tuesday night. Goa DGP Alok Kumar confirmed that the Luthras will arrive in Goa on Tuesday.
A special team comprising CBI and intelligence officials landed in Phuket, Thailand, on Saturday to complete the deportation process. The brothers, detained from Indigo Hotel in Phuket, were then brought to the Bangkok detention centre. The Indian embassy in Thailand then issued an emergency certificate — a one-way travel document — to the Luthras since their passport was suspended by the Indian govt.

The Luthras, who fled to Thailand hours after the fire while police and fire services were still battling the blaze and rescuing those trapped.

They were subsequently detained last week by Thai authorities from Hotel Indigo in Patong, Phuket, and shifted to an immigration detention centre in Bangkok.

The regional passport office, New Delhi, subsequently issued a notice to the brothers, seeking an explanation from both as to why action should not be initiated to impound their passports within seven days.

Once a lookout notice was issued, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) decided to impound their passports, which meant that they were staying without valid travel documents in Thailand. India and Thailand signed a formal extradition treaty in 2013, which came into force on June 29, 2015.

Goa police investigation into the fire incident at Birch revealed that over the past 18 months, the nightclub was operating illegally without 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 until the fire incident on the night of December 6.

So far, Goa police have arrested Gurgaon resident Ajay Gupta, 55, a partner of brothers Saurabh and Gaurav, New Delhi natives Rajiv Modak, 49, chief general manager, and Priyanshu Thakur, 32, gate manager, along with UP natives Rajveer Singhania, 32, bar manager, Vivek Singh, 27, general manager, and Bharat Kohli from Delhi.

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