Luthra brothers brought to Delhi from Thailand; Goa Police takes their custody
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, wanted for the devastating Goa nightclub fire that killed 25, have been arrested in Thailand after an international manhunt.
New Delhi: An international manhunt has concluded with the arrest of Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who fled to Thailand shortly after a devastating fire engulfed their Goa nightclub on December 6. The Luthra brothers have been brought to Delhi 's IGI Airport on Tuesday afternoon. The fire incident in north Goa club -- Birch by Romeo Lane -- had claimed the lives of 25 people.
Luthra brothers, who were deported from Thailand this morning, arrived at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on an Indigo flight around 2 PM. After their arrival, a joint team from the Delhi Crime Branch and the Goa Police escorted them to Patiala House Court to seek a transit remand. Goa Director General of Police, Alok Kumar, confirmed that the brothers will likely to be flown to Goa by Tuesday night, with the state police preparing a team to take custody of them.
The Luthra brothers were arrested from hotel
The Luthra brothers were apprehended last week by Thai law enforcement officials at their hotel in Phuket. This detention followed a request from New Delhi, which had previously impounded their passports and issued a Blue Notice through Interpol, signalling their status as fugitives sought by international law enforcement.
The escape and the international manhunt
The Luthra brothers reportedly fled to Thailand while emergency services were still battling the blaze at their nightclub, "Birch By Romeo Lane," and conducting rescue operations. In response to their alleged evasion, the Regional Passport Office in New Delhi issued a notice demanding an explanation for why their passports should not be impounded within seven days.
MEA impound their passports
Following the issuance of a lookout notice, the Ministry of External Affairs moved to impound their passports, rendering their continued stay in Thailand illegal. Subsequently, Thai authorities detained the brothers from Hotel Indigo in Phuket for overstaying and transferred them to a detention centre in Bangkok. The Indian embassy in Thailand provided the Luthra brothers with an emergency certificate, a one-way travel document, to facilitate their return to India, given their passports had been suspended by the Indian government.