PANAJI: Even as more and more complaints pile up against the Goa Romeo Lane Club, which was illegal in every sense of the word, on Friday, two Mumbai-based women Simranpreet Kaur Arora (Read Here) and Kaseesshree Khandelwal (Read Here) have come forward to narrate their ordeals and the scope of cheating by touts associated with the night spot.
At the same time, the original owner of the property, a Goan by the name of Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar told news agency PTI that he had signed a sale agreement with one Surinder Kumar Khosla in 2004, but it was withdrawn within six months as he did not receive the payment for the property. Kholsa set up a nightclub on the land without proper licenses and permissions, and it was later taken over by the Delhi-based Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane, without paying him for the property, Ghadi has alleged.
Now, according to locals and sources in the Village Panchayat Office (VP), a powerful coastal belt politician from North Goa and a strongman Goan hotelier are behind the setting up of the Romeo Lane Club and get regular monthly haftas or bribes from the Romeo Lane management. Even the touts and pimps operating in the area are controlled by them, alleged the VP source. A Mumbai-based journalist who had visited the club premises in November, alleged that drugs were being consumed inside the club premises and the management turned a blind eye towards the gross illegal activity.
ALSO READ: Land on which Romeo Lane club in Goa stood, illegally changed from ‘Salt Pan land’ to ‘Settlement Zone’ says original Goan owner
According to a VP member, the very fact that such an illegal structure and club was permitted to run and flourish in broad daylight, advertising their services all over social media, means that there were powerful local Goan ‘godfathers’ supporting them behind the scenes. Even the police or local administration did not take any action against them in spite of complaints and ongoing court cases, untill the fire incident took place.
The original land owner Amonkar said he is fighting a legal court battle against Khosla over the title and ownership of the land. “For 21 years, I have been fighting in courts to get back my land in Arpora, which has been wrongfully occupied,” he told PTI. (Read Here).
While the case is proceeding at a slow, lethargic pace, Amonkar said he has now learnt of a new development. “The government quietly changed the zoning of my land without informing me,” Amid the ongoing litigation, he said no notice was served to him concerning the zone change and the entire process was done in complete secrecy. According to him, this could not have happening without political support.
ALSO READ: Bouncers, touts demanded Rs 10k per person for entry into Luthra’s Goa Romeo Lane club, alleges Punjabi actor Simranpreet Kaur Arora
The status of the place where the nightclub was built has been changed to a settlement zone, he claimed. “How can a salt pan be converted into a settlement zone,” he demanded to know?
Amonkar said he discovered the “zone change” on Thursday (December 11, 2025) while preparing documents to move the High Court against the club in connection with the fire tragedy.
A senior Goa Town and Country Planning official who was queried by PTI, said that since an inquiry into this matter is underway, it would not be appropriate for them to respond to Amonkar’s allegations at this stage.
ALSO READ: Actor Kaseesshree Khandelwal claims she was abused, molested at Luthra’s Romeo Lane club in Goa
A massive blaze swept through the nightclub at Arpora village in North Goa around midnight on December 6, killing 25 persons, most of them staff and a few tourists. According to an initial report, the blaze started when fireworks lit inside the club hit the ceiling which was made of inflamable materials including wood and dried coconut palm leaves which caught fire instantaneously.
Other persons in the know of things, have accused a powerful local politcian and a Goan hotelier of being hand-in-glove with the Luthra’s who were trying to take over all the property rights and title of the land, without paying the original Goan landowner.
“They were making huge profits. Even the taxi mafia was hand-in-glove. Hefty commissions were given to given to rogue taxi drivers to get guests to the club. They could afford this as they charged exorbitant fees. The touts, taxi mafia and the hotel management were all hand-in-glove and the government should institute a proper enquriy into all those who were involved, even indirectly in this illegal business,” said a local Goan residing in the vicinity, on condition of anonymity.
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