Team Goemkarponn
Mapusa: The Additional Sessions Court in Mapusa has granted temporary protection from arrest until December 30 to Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane, in connection with a document falsification case registered against their firm, GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP.
The court has also issued notice to the investigating officer seeking a response in the matter.
The order comes amid parallel proceedings in the nightclub fire case. On the same day, the Mapusa Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court extended the police custody of the Luthra brothers until December 29 in connection with the December 6 fire incident at the club that claimed the lives of 25 people and left several others injured.
After the completion of ten days of police interrogation, the accused were produced before the JMFC court.
The Anjuna Police sought an additional four days of custody to recover original documents considered crucial to the investigation. The court granted the request after the accused assured full cooperation with the probe.
The Luthra brothers were deported from Thailand on December 16, following which they were arrested in Delhi. A Delhi court granted a 48-hour transit remand, enabling their transfer to Goa. They were produced before the Mapusa JMFC court on December 17, which initially remanded them to five days of police custody.
In a related development, Bharat Kohli, a co-accused who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations at Birch by Romeo Lane, was granted conditional bail by the court upon furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000.
Investigations into both the fire incident and the alleged document forgery case are ongoing.
