Blue Corner Notice issued against Luthra brothers
Mapusa: Hours after putting out a Look Out Circular, Goa police detained co-owner of the fire-ravaged Arpora nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.
According to officials, when a police team visited Gupta’s residence in the national capital, he was found to be absconding following which an arrest warrant was obtained and Gupta was subsequently detained in the capital city. Further legal procedures are under way, police said.
Meanwhile, Interpol has issued a Blue Corner Notice against Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the main owners of the Arpora nightclub, who fled to Thailand hours after the blaze last week at the club claimed 25 lives. A Blue Corner Notice is issued to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to criminal probe.
A Look Out Circular (LOC) has been put up against Surinder Kumar Khosla, a British citizen, in connection with the nightclub blaze. Khosla is said to be the owner of the property. Earlier, an LOC was put up against the Luthra brothers by the Bureau of Immigration in Mumbai following a request made by Goa police.
Addressing media on Tuesday, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Varsha Sharma said, “We have opened the LOC and Blue Corner notices and are coordinating with CBI and Interpol. All attempts are being made to get the Luthra brothers back to India.”
Sharma said that some other persons are on their radar. She said police teams have been sent to different parts of another state. “LOC has been put out for Surinder Kumar Khosla, who is the owner of the property,” the DIG said. “We are taking help of institutions to track the financial travel details of the accused partners,” she said.
The DIG said the Luthra brothers left the country and fled to Thailand within hours of the fire tragedy. “Police tried to trace their location but their mobile phones were switched off. They were not in Goa on the day of the (fire) incident,” the DIG said.
With four managers of the nightclub already arrested, police on Tuesday brought Bharat Singh Kohli, who was held in Delhi, to Goa on transit remand. Kohli was managing the daily operations at Birch by Romeo Lane on behalf of the owners. The four arrested managers are chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania and gate manager Riyanshu Thakur.
Stating that the case is being investigated, DIG Sharma said people will be called and questioned about their role as the probe progresses.
