Goa Nightclub Tragedy: Main Accused Flee Abroad Quickly, Police Seek International Assistance
Goa Nightclub Fire: Accused Flee to Phuket Within Hours; Police Seek Interpol Help as Probe Widens: In a dramatic turn in the Goa nightclub fire tragedy, accused Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra fled the country within just five hours of the incident, in which 25 people lost their lives. The fire broke out around midnight on Sunday, December 7th, and by 5:30 a.m. the same day, both accused had boarded IndiGo flight 6E-1073 from Delhi to Phuket, Thailand—the same flight that had seen a booking rush two days earlier.
According to a report by Divyesh Singh of India Today, the Goa Police acted swiftly after registering the FIR and sent a team to Delhi to raid the accused’s known locations. However, by the time officers arrived, both Saurabh and Gaurav were missing. Notices were subsequently pasted at their residences as per legal procedure.
By the evening of December 7th, the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against the duo at the request of Goa Police. A later inquiry revealed that the accused had already departed for Phuket earlier that morning. Police say the quick escape clearly suggests their intention to evade investigation.
Goa Police have now contacted the CBI’s Interpol division to facilitate the speedy arrest and extradition of the fugitives.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Arvind Ojha of India Today, Goa Police are in Delhi searching for Ajay Gupta, believed to be a business partner of Saurabh and Gaurav in the nightclub where the deadly fire occurred.
So far, five individuals have been arrested in connection with the case. The latest arrest was made on Monday, December 8th, when Bharat Kohli, the manager overseeing the club’s Delhi operations, was detained. He is being transported to Goa on transit remand for further questioning.
Earlier arrests included the club’s Chief General Manager Rajiv Modak, General Manager Vivek Singh, Bar Manager Rajiv Singhania, and Gate Manager Riyanshu Thakur.
Authorities have completed postmortems of all deceased victims, and the bodies have been handed over to their families as the investigation continues to widen.
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