Nightclub tragedy: Co-owner Ajay Gupta to be brought to Goa for questioning

Ajay Gupta, one of the four owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, who was detained in Delhi, will be brought to Goa on Wednesday for questioning in connection with a fire at the establishment that claimed 25 lives, a senior official said.

Earlier, a Look Out Circular (LOC) had been issued against Gupta after a Goa police team failed to find him at his Delhi residence.

"We later managed to detain him in Delhi," the official said, adding that Gupta would be placed under arrest after the completion of formalities to bring him to Goa.

"Gupta will be flown to Goa on Wednesday for interrogation," the official said.

Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the two primary owners of the nightclub located at Arpora in Goa, had fled to Phuket in Thailand following the tragedy on the night of December 6.

An Interpol Blue Corner Notice has been issued against them. Besides, an LOC has been issued against Surinder Kumar Khosla, another owner of the nightclub who is a British citizen, according to police.

The police have so far arrested five persons - the nightclub’s chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania, gate manager Riyanshu Thakur and employee Bharat Kohli.

Twenty-five persons were killed in the fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora in North Goa around midnight on December 6.