THE GOAN NETWORK PANAJI

The owners of Birch by Romeo Lane, the Arpora nightclub where 25 people died in a major fire, left India for Thailand before Goa Police could take them into custody.

This has now forced the authorities to follow a long international process to bring them back.

In a statement issued earlier, police said brothers Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, who are booked for culpable homicide, boarded a 5.30 a.m. flight to Phuket on December 7. This was just hours after the midnight fire that killed club staff and tourists.

After registering the FIR, police sent a team to Delhi and carried out raids at their homes. However, the brothers had already fled.

“Since they were not available, a legal notice was pasted at their residence,” the police said.

Police said the timing of t

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