Indian Authorities Move to Impound Passports of Luthra Brothers Who Fled to Thailand After Deadly Goa Nightclub Fire

The Luthra brothers escaped to Thailand shortly after the devastating fire at their Goa establishment that resulted in 25 fatalities.

The Ministry of External Affairs has initiated steps toward revoking the passports of the Luthra brothers, who fled to Thailand following a deadly fire at their Goa nightclub that claimed 25 lives. The brothers have received notices requiring them to provide, within a 7-day timeframe, justification for why their passports should not be confiscated.

This measure was implemented against Gaurav Luthra (44) and Saurabh Luthra (40) after the Goa Police submitted a formal request to the ministry seeking revocation of their travel documents. The siblings, who were in Delhi when the incident occurred, boarded an IndiGo flight to Phuket, Thailand just hours after their nightclub 'Birch by Romeo Lane' in Goa's Arpora caught fire around midnight on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of five tourists and twenty staff members.

The Goa Police has filed a First Information Report against the brothers and other individuals, including charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, as well as conspiracy.

In the correspondence addressed to the brothers, titled 'Clarifications required regarding Issuance of passport facilities', the Regional Passport Office in Delhi, operating under the ministry, stated it had received an unfavorable police verification report.

The passport office demanded: "Submit an explanation why action should not be taken to impound the passport number Z7678521 dated 14/03/2024, under suitable sections Passports Act, 1967 and Section 12(1)(b) of the Passport Act, 1967 should not be initiated against you within 7 days."

Responding to the Goa Police's request for passport revocation, the ministry attached these communications to the brothers and wrote, "The passports of the accused were issued by RPO Delhi. Considering the seriousness of the matter, RPO Delhi has already issued impounding notices to both passport holders."

"With regard to your request for revocation under Section 10(3) (e) of the Passports Act, 1967, the provision applies "when proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the passport holder are pending before a criminal court in India... Therefore, to enable further action on revocation, the details of the case pending before the court may kindly be forwarded to RPO Delhi, being the issuing authority," they further explained.

Officials reported that when the Goa Police visited the Luthras' residence in Delhi on Sunday, they discovered the brothers had already fled. The Luthras, who operate more than 20 clubs and restaurants, reportedly checked into a Phuket resort but departed before authorities could locate them.

On Tuesday, NDTV obtained the first photograph of Gaurav Luthra in Phuket, showing him at the airport during an immigration check.

That same evening, Goa authorities demolished a portion of another establishment owned by the Luthras, 'Romeo Lane', located in Goa's Vagator.