‘Sleeping Partner’ Ajay Gupta Brought To Goa, To Be Produced In Mapusa Court Today

Panaji/Goa: Ajay Gupta, one of the owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where 25 people were killed in a devastating fire on December 6, is currently detained at the Anjuna Police Station and will be produced in court today.

Gupta was brought to Goa late on Thursday night after being granted a 36-hour transit remand by Delhi’s Saket Court on December 10. He is expected to be taken from Anjuna Police Station to Mapusa Court at 12 pm, with police personnel preparing to leave the station shortly.

Inside the lock-up at the Anjuna Police Station, Gupta was visited by two men but they refused to speak with the media. Gupta has claimed that he was merely a “sleeping partner” of the nightclub with no knowledge of its operational details.

Meanwhile, in a major parallel development, the Luthra brothers, Gaurav and Saurabh, have been detained in Thailand. The Thai police have taken them into custody and brought them to the airport as part of the handover process. Indian agencies had been tracking the duo since they fled to Thailand hours after the nightclub inferno.

A Blue Corner Notice had already been issued against the brothers, and Indian authorities are now coordinating the next steps with their Thai counterparts.

The Rohini Court in Delhi on Wednesday had refused to grant interim protection to the Luthra brothers, who had filed for transit anticipatory bail claiming they wanted to return to India and join the investigation. The court questioned the maintainability of their plea since the brothers were not within its territorial jurisdiction.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said that the inquiry report into the fire will be ready within eight days. The state has begun disbursing compensation to families of the victims, while safety audits and enforcement drives at entertainment venues have been intensified.

Separately, the district administration has demolished a section of the Romeo Lane restaurant in Vagator, owned by the Luthra brothers, as part of its action on illegal structures linked to the case.

ALSO READ: Goa Nightclub Fire: Fugitive Luthra Brothers Detained From Resort In Phuket’s Kathu, Now in Royal Thai Police Custody