A Goa Police team will soon travel to Thailand as part of the effort to bring the absconding owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub back under India’s 2015 extradition treaty with Thailand.
BY PC Bureau
December 10, 2025: The Goa Police on Tuesday detained Ajay Gupta, one of the four owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, where a devastating fire killed 25 people late Saturday night. Gupta had earlier been placed under a Look Out Circular (LOC) after a police team failed to find him at his Delhi residence. He was later traced in the national capital and detained.
“He is the sixth person to be held in connection with the case,” a Goa Police spokesperson said, adding that Gupta will be formally arrested after completion of the procedures to bring him back to Goa.
Two other co-owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, remain absconding. Interpol has issued a Blue Corner Notice against the brothers, who are believed to be hiding in Phuket, Thailand. The Regional Passport Office in New Delhi has also sought an explanation from them as to why their passports should not be impounded within seven days.
Birch by Romeo Lane fire case – Update
Goa Police has detained one more accused linked to this case namely Ajay Gupta from New Delhi.
A Look Out Circular was earlier issued against him.
When the police team visited his residence he was found absconding, an arrest warrant was…— Goa Police (@Goa_Police) December 9, 2025
A Blue Corner Notice helps agencies collect information on a suspect’s identity, location, and movements during a criminal investigation. Police officials said that while such notices typically take a week to process, this one was cleared within two days with support from central agencies.
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Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant told TOI that a police team will be dispatched to Thailand to bring the brothers back. Investigators revealed that the Luthras boarded IndiGo flight 6E 1073 to Phuket at 5:30am on Sunday, just hours after the fire.
On Sunday, a Goa Police team had reached Delhi with arrest warrants and searched the brothers’ homes and offices. When they were not found, a notice was pasted at their residence. By the evening of December 7, the Bureau of Immigration had issued a lookout circular at the request of Goa Police.
Meanwhile, a lookout notice has also been issued against the property owner, UK national Surinder Kumar Khosla. Deputy inspector general of Goa Police, Varsha Sharma, said the force is coordinating with the CBI and Interpol to secure the return of the Luthras, and is examining their financial dealings with the support of central agencies.
So far, five staff members of the nightclub have been arrested — chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania, gate manager Riyanshu Thakur, and employee Bharat Kohli.
