PANAJI: Goa-based people’s forum “Goa Progress Forum” has demanded that the culprits of the Romeo Lane club fire tragedy that killed 25 persons and injured several others, including the Luthra brothers – Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, their partner Ajay Gupta and others involved or responsible for the catastrophic fire should not be granted bail.
According to Ingrid Miranda of the Goa Progress Forum, 25 persons have lost their lives. The Luthra’s have forged documents to get permissions and all their permissions are fake or fradulent. Even the property on which the club was built is under litigation and the orginal Goan owner has not been paid his dues. They are guilty of culpable homicide as well as fraud and forgery. They should not be granted bail,” Miranda said.
According to Goa police sources, one more FIR will be filed against the Luthra brothers, Gaurav and Saurabh – the owners of the Birch By Romeo Lane in north Goa’s Arpora, for forging officials documents.
They had used forged documents to obtain a licence for the club’s registration. Even documents submitted to the various departments including Pollution Control, Environment, Panchayat and Excise to obtain various licenses, and permissions were based on forged papers.
As far as the police investigation goes, Saurav and Gaurav Luthra, who own the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in North Goa, are reportedly not cooperating with police authorities, CNN-News18 reported.
According to sources whom CNN-News18 spoke to, the Luthras are being evasive in answering questions of the Goa police. “They are taking the cops for a ride, trying to avoid giving direct answers and deflecting questions. Every few hours, they complain of some health problem or pain in the back, chest or legs, even after medical examinations have shown no signs of any issue,” a police source said.
There have been four medical examinations of the accused in the last 36 hours, police said. Authorities believe it to be a deliberate tactic by the brothers to waste critical police custody time and divert the attention of the investigating authorities.
According to the Goa police, they contacted the brothers after the fire directly as well as through the staff members and asked them to return to India and join the investigation, a request they flatly refused, reflecting a clear insensitivity towards the deceased and a deliberate attempt to avoid the law, the police have said.
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