Nightclub fire: Goa Police get 36-hour transit remand of Ajay Gupta

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday allowed the Goa Police a 36-hour transit remand of Ajay Gupta, one of the four owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where a blaze left 25 people dead on December 6.

Gupta was detained in Delhi for questioning in connection with the fire incident at the nightclub in Goa.

Goa Police produced him before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Joshi and sought his transit remand.

The court granted a 36-hour transit remand in view of the ongoing air travel crisis due to disrupted Indigo flights. The judge directed that special consideration be taken on account of Gupta’s spinal injury and other medical issues, and timely medication should be ensured during custody.

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

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

Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the two primary owners of the nightclub located at Arpora in Goa, are suspected to have 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 was 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 people - 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.