Brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of Birch by Romeo Lane, the Goa club where 25 people died in a fire late Saturday night, are believed to have left the country for Thailand, the Goa Police said in a statement.
“Soon after the institution of an FIR, police moved swiftly and dispatched a team to Delhi to conduct raids on the addresses of the accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra. Since they were not available, a notice under the appropriate sections of law was pasted on their house. By the evening of December 7 (Sunday), a lookout circular (LOC) was issued against them by the Bureau of Immigration at the request of the Goa Police,” the statement said.
A senior police officer said the brothers were in Delhi when the incident happened on Saturday midnight. “When the Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai was contacted, it was found that both the accused had taken a flight to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, that is hours after the incident,” an officer said, adding that the Goa Police has reached out to the Interpol Division of the CBI to apprehend the two.
According to sources, the CBI is likely to request the Interpol to issue a Blue Corner Notice against the brothers. The Blue Notice is issued to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
On Monday, Saurabh Luthra posted a statement on Instagram saying: “The management expresses profound grief and is deeply shaken by the tragic loss of lives resulting from the unfortunate incident at Birch. In this hour of irreparable sorrow and overwhelming distress, the management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured… The management further affirms that it shall extend every possible form of assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved and affected individuals.”
India and Thailand have an extradition treaty, operational since 2015.
The Luthra brothers started from Delhi’s Hudson Lane, expanded footprint to 30 cities
Facing a fall from grace, the Luthras have had a meteoric rise in the food and beverage industry, with outlets in several cities and also abroad, having started out only a decade ago.
Delhi-born Saurabh Luthra, the Chairman of Romeo Lane, has a B.Tech degree in Computer Science and worked in the corporate sector as a business development manager for a decade, before turning an entrepreneur. He started with a cafe-cum-lounge, ‘Mama’s Buoi’, and a bar called ‘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 two aggressively expanding and launching premier restrobars and rooftop restaurants in over 30 cities – including Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Goa, Bhopal, Indore, Dehradun, Lucknow – as well as Dubai. The brand also has a boutique hotel in Goa.
Their portfolio of restaurants and bars includes Romeo Lane, Birch, Caha and Mama’s Buoi. In Goa, the duo advertised Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora as “India’s first island bar” when it opened a few years ago.
The Romeo Lane’s website describes Luthra as a “gold medalist” engineer, and “fastest-growing restaurateur”. He is “known for his public relations and organic cocktails served at his outlets”, it adds. The website claims he was named “iconic restaurateur” in 2023 and has several prestigious awards and recognition to his credit. He regularly featured in media outlets in the list of ’40 under 40’ entrepreneurs, with articles praising him for “redefining hospitality space”.
Gaurav Luthra is listed as a founder of Romeo Lane, Birch and Caha on his social media profile.
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The brothers live in North Delhi’s Outram Lane near GTB Nagar Metro Station, close to where they started their first outlets. It was here that the Goa Police conducted raids on Monday.
In 2024, one of their clubs located in North Delhi got a show-cause notice from Municipal Corporation of Delhi regarding sitting arrangement limitations and poor hygiene in the kitchen. It was later rectified.
The same year, in December, Romeo Lane was among seven clubs in Goa that were issued a notice by the Goa State Pollution Control Board for violating sound pollution norms.
In connection with the fire at Birch, police have lodged an FIR and charges of culpable homicide against the Luthras, the manager of the outlet, and the event organiser of the evening when the incident happened. The Delhi Police Crime Branch, which is assisting the Goa Police in searches in the Capital, said the Luthras are believed to have had a co-owner in the Goa Birch nightclub. “It is suspected that he is currently in Delhi, and a team is searching for him,” an officer said.
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The FIR in the Birch fire case flags lapses such as the absence of fire safety equipment and emergency exit at the night club, and the lack of required permissions / licences. Four people were arrested on Sunday, including the club’s chief general manager, Rajiv Modak (49), gate manager Priyanshu Thakur (32), bar manager Rajveer Singhania (32), and general manager Vivek Singh (27). On Monday, police arrested a fifth person, Bharat Singh, who ran daily operations at the club, from Delhi.
In a statement Monday, the office of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the sarpanch of Arpora where Birch is located had signed NoCs for electricity connection, water connection, house repairs to the outlet, and gave it a trade licence, among other permissions. “The premises continued to run after the expiry of the trade licence (in) March 2024. Under Section 72-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, the local body is empowered to seal such premises. However, they failed to do so.”
This came after panchayat officials said they had issued orders to demolish Birch, but that this had been stalled by higher authorities.
The CMO statement said that all the deceased in the fire tragedy had been identified, and mortal remains of 20 shifted to their native places. “Further the two other commercial establishments by name Romeo Lane have been sealed by Revenue authorities. All the documents are being scrutinised.”
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In light of the fire, the Goa State Disaster Management Authority has issued an advisory to all nightclubs, restaurants, bars, event venues, and similar establishments operating within the state, to ensure strict compliance with prescribed fire safety, electrical safety, emergency preparedness, and structural safety norms.
The advisory also directed all establishments to conduct an internal safety audit within seven days and keep the report ready for inspection by the district administration, fire services, or SDMA-authorised teams.
The government has constituted a committee for a magisterial inquiry into the sequence of events leading to the fire. The four-member committee is headed by Collector, North, Ankit Yadav. Officials said the committee will verify the compliances of all statutory licences and determine the lapses, fix accountability, and recommend preventive and corrective measures. The committee has been tasked to submit the report within a week.
The Goa Police said government officials involved in issuing permits and licences to the nightclub have been called for investigation.
