Goa nightclub fire: Luthra brothers arrested in Thailand, extradition to India underway
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Goa nightclub fire: Luthra brothers arrested in Thailand, extradition to India underway")
Goa nightclub fire | Gaurav and Saurav Luthra with Thailand immigration Bureau officer Photograph: (Combination created using images X/page3newsthai)
The Luthra brothers, linked to the Goa nightclub fire that killed 25, have been caught in Thailand. Goa Police say the duo booked tickets to flee while firefighters were still battling the blaze. India has begun extradition steps as their passports face cancellation.
Luthra brothers, the two siblings linked to the Goa nightclub fire that killed 25 people, have been apprehended in Thailand. The procedure to extradite them to India for trial has commenced. The brothers, Gaurav and Saurav Luthra, had absconded to Thailand after the tragic fire at their Birch by Romeo Lane venue in Arpora, North Goa. This comes as the Goa Police revealed that their investigation into the recent fire incident found that the Luthra brothers booked flight tickets to Thailand just as emergency teams were struggling to contain the blaze and rescue those trapped inside.
Luthra brothers fled soon after fire
Thai officials said that Indian investigative agencies, in coordination with the Indian Embassy in Bangkok, had alerted Thai immigration and law enforcement after tracking the absconding brothers' movements to Thailand. Subsequently, a joint operation was conducted, leading to the suspects being located and detained at a hotel in Bangkok.
According to the Goa Police, the Luthra brothers made the booking on the MakeMyTrip (MMT) platform at 1:17 am on December 7, a time when both the Goa Police and the Goa Fire Services were engaged in firefighting operations at the site. "Even as the Goa Police and Goa Fire Services were battling to douse the fire and rescue the people trapped inside, the Luthra brothers were preparing to flee the country," said officials.
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Passport of Luthra brothers
The Ministry of External Affairs, meanwhile, is examining a request from the Goa Government to revoke the passports of Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra under the Passports Act of India, as per extant rules. This comes after a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) for them, the brothers submitted a plea for protection. The Luthra brothers told the Rohini Court via their counsel that they were not evading arrest. They argued that they travelled to Thailand for work-related reasons and now wished to return to India but fear custodial action. Their lawyer said that the brothers were seeking a brief transit protection to approach the competent court in Goa.
