{"id":334827,"date":"2025-12-09T15:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T15:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/334827\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T15:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T15:52:08","slug":"nightclub-chain-tycoons-turn-runaways-luthra-brothers-swift-rise-in-10-yrs-then-escape-to-thailand-after-goa-inferno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/334827\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightclub chain tycoons turn runaways: Luthra brothers’ swift rise in 10 yrs, then escape to Thailand after Goa inferno"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Delhi-based entrepreneur brothers Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra made headlines as hospitality tycoons not long ago. Until a fire at their nightclub in Goa \u2014 \u2018Birch\u2019, part of their India-wide chain<\/a> of pubs, restaurants and clubs under the umbrella brand \u2018Romeo Lane\u2019 \u2014 killed 25 people last Saturday night. It also revealed many alleged illegalities in their empire.<\/p>\n

\"An An excavator demolishes wooden structures at Romeo Lane on Anjuna beach after a fire at the adjacent Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub killed 25 people, in Goa on Tuesday, December 9. Chain Owners Saurabh Luthra (inset) and his brother Gaurav have fled India. (Photos: PTI, Instagram\/@saurabhluthra16) <\/p>\n

They are making headlines still, but for being runaways to Thailand. Police from at least two states, Delhi and Goa, plus central agencies and the Interpol are now trying to catch them.<\/p>\n

The brothers face a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued by Goa Police, as do two of their co-owners. The Luthra brothers remain the main players and the face of the brand, more so Saurabh for his public appearances.<\/p>\n

Escape before action: They made their escape quickly. The fire report was first received by the Goa Police at 12:04 am, Sunday, when the club was packed with the Saturday night party crowd. Less than six hours later, at 5:30 am on Sunday, the Luthras were aboard an IndiGo flight <\/a>(6E 1073) fleeing India, landing in Phuket, Thailand, around 11 am.<\/p>\n

IndiGo was otherwise mass-cancelling flights over new pilot work-hour norms and other issues, but its few international flights were unaffected.<\/p>\n

The brothers’ escape was successful also before notices were issued against them by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) and police could reach their Delhi addresses.<\/p>\n

From a joint to a chain, how Luthra brothers rose<\/p>\n

Police visited the Luthras’ Delhi residences and offices, including a locked bungalow in Outram Lines and a locked office in Model Town. A neighbour in Outram Lines noted<\/a>, \u201cThe family has been living here for years. The sons own many restaurants and also have hotels. We don\u2019t know where they are but haven\u2019t seen them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saurabh Luthra was active online, posting a statement on Instagram<\/a>: \u201cThe management expresses profound grief and is deeply shaken by the tragic loss of lives resulting from the unfortunate incident at Birch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brothers are known as first-generation restaurateurs<\/a>. Saurabh Luthra, the more visible one, has a BTech degree in software engineering from a university in Gujarat. Before moving to hospitality, he worked for 10 years as a business development manager, it is learnt. More details on Gaurav and the family are not available yet.<\/p>\n

Business-wise, Saurabh ventured into the restaurant business in 2015 with a cafe, Mama\u2019s Buoi, in North Delhi\u2019s Hudson Lane, followed by another brand called Dramebaaz. These were small joints as compared to what he and his brother built later.<\/p>\n

Their breakout success came in 2019 with the opening of the flagship nightclub Romeo Lane in Delhi’s Civil Lines. The brand quickly expanded into a massive hospitality empire. At present, it spans at least 37 cities in India, including Noida, Gurugram, Hyderabad, and Lucknow, and has some international presence with outlets in Dubai and London. They had plans to open an outlet in New York, it is learnt. Company websites indicate the establishments are jointly run by the brothers and other investors of franchisees.<\/p>\n

Irregularities at clubs \u2018despite complaints\u2019, now bulldozer action<\/p>\n

The business saw some controversy before too, particularly concerning their Goa establishments.<\/p>\n

The local sarpanch in Arpora has said<\/a> they did not have the permissions for the Birch club there. But they had got stay orders on appeal against demolition notices. This matter was ongoing.<\/p>\n

Now, authorities are underlining how they did not have the right fire-safety arrangements. The fire was initially reported to have been caused by a cooking-gas cylinder blast. But subsequent theories blame use of firecrackers indoors<\/a> in a place that was built using highly combustible material.<\/p>\n

Standing on salt pan land, Birch club’s two lower floors were permanent structures, while the roof \u2014 where the fire reportedly started\u2014 was constructed from thatched bamboo.<\/p>\n

Their other establishments, such as one at the Vagator beach, have faced complaints due to alleged violations of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) rules, and noise pollution. This place has been demolished <\/a>now <\/a>following an order from CM Pramod Sawant now.<\/p>\n

Local resident Jawish Moniz told HT that their club at Vagator was demolished on at least two occasions for CRZ violations, only to be rebuilt before the subsequent tourist season.<\/p>\n

Authorities said investigation will reveal everything<\/a>, including how a dancer from Kazakhstan<\/a> was working there without proper dicuments.<\/p>\n

Manhunt on, agencies on trail<\/p>\n

As for the international manhunt for Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought \u2018blue notices\u2019 <\/a>to prevent them from fleeing Thailand for another country.<\/p>\n

Police in Goa are simultaneously working to bring them back via deportation, securing an arrest warrant from a court to bypass the formal extradition process that takes longer.<\/p>\n

A Look Out Circular has also been issued against two co-owners of the club<\/a>, Ajay Gupta and Surinder Kumar Khosla, the latter identified as a British citizen.<\/p>\n

Five individuals, including an associate of the Luthras named Bharat Kohli<\/a> who was “overseeing\u201d many of their restaurant operations, have already been arrested. Some Goa government officials have also been asked to join the investigation.<\/p>\n

A four-member panel is investigating the fire incident.<\/p>\n

(Inputs from HT correspondents and news agencies)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delhi-based entrepreneur brothers Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra made headlines as hospitality tycoons not long ago. Until a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[147208,147210,147212,43,44,147211,147209,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-334827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-delhi-nightclub-fire","9":"tag-gaurav-luthra","10":"tag-goa-police","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-romeo-lane","14":"tag-saurabh-luthra","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}