Goa Club Fire: Owners Flee to Thailand Hours After Tragedy
Police issue lookout circular; CBI seeks Interpol support to trace accused
- Goa night club owners fled to Thailand hours after fire that killed 25 people
- Police traced their exit after issuing lookout circular on Sunday evening
- Accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra flew to Phuket on IndiGo flight 6E-1073
- CBI’s Interpol division contacted for coordinated arrest operation
GG News Bureau
Panaji, 8th Dec: In a major development in the Goa nightclub fire case that claimed 25 lives, police on Monday said that the two owners of the establishment fled India for Thailand just hours after the incident took place on Saturday night.
The accused — Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra — had been untraceable since the fire. After an FIR was filed, a police team travelled to Delhi to search their residence, but found the duo missing. A notice was left at the house.
Police then requested the Bureau of Immigration to issue a lookout circular on Sunday evening. Once activated, airport authorities traced the pair’s travel details. Officials said the brothers boarded an IndiGo flight — 6E-1073 — departing Mumbai for Phuket at 5:30 am on Sunday, barely hours after the deadly blaze.
IndiGo’s international operations were unaffected by the rostering crisis that disrupted its domestic flights, allowing the accused to leave the country without hindrance.
“The accused clearly intended to evade investigation,” police officials said.
The Goa Police have now reached out to the Interpol division of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to help coordinate an operation to locate and arrest the two men as soon as possible. Investigations into the cause of the fire and accountability for safety lapses at the club continue.
