Goa fire: Nightclub co-owner Ajay Gupta, absconding after tragedy, detained in Delhi

New Delhi: The Goa Police detained Ajay Gupta, one of the four owners of 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub, where a deadly fire broke out last week, killing 25 people. Gupta, who had been absconding since the fire tragedy, was held in New Delhi on Tuesday.

A Look Out Circular (LOC) was earlier issued against Gupta and another owner Surinder Kumar Khosla. When the police team visited his residence earlier, he was found absconding. Later, an arrest warrant was issued against him and he was found in the national capital and detained.

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What police said

"We have detained Ajay Gupta, one of the owners of the nightclub. This is the sixth person to be held in connection with the case,” a Goa police spokesperson said.

“Earlier, an LOC was issued against him as a police team had failed to find him at his Delhi residence when it visited it there,” he said. Gupta will soon be placed under arrest after formalities to bring him to Goa are completed.

Birch nightclub fire

As many as 25 people, mostly staff, were killed and several others were injured after a fire broke out at the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub in Arpora in North Goa around midnight on Saturday. Two more owners of the nightclub -- Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra - are at large and a blue corner notice has been issued against them. The allegedly fled to Thailand after the tragic fire incident possibly to evade arrest.

So far, five persons, including the nightclub’s chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania, gate manager Riyanshu Thakur and employee Bharat Kohli, have been arrested in connection with the club fire.

Demolition action

`Romeo Lane’, a beach shack illegally constructed at Vagator by the fugitive owners of the Arpora nightclub, was demolished on Tuesday. The Goa Tourism Department razed the shack because it was built on tourism department land. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had ordered authorities to initiate the process to raze the shack.