Goa authorities have intensified their crackdown on the controversial Romeo Lane hospitality chain after a fire at one of its nightclubs killed 25 people, sealing additional properties and dispatching a police team to Delhi to locate the company’s promoters, officials said on Monday.
The fire broke out late Saturday at Birch by Romeo Lane, a North Goa nightclub in Arpora, killing 25 people, most of them staffers, officials said. Police on Sunday registered an FIR against the property’s promoters — Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra — and have launched a search for them.
The Anjuna police have arrested the club’s chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania, and gate manager Riyanshu Thakur.
As part of the widening action, the North Goa district administration has sealed two more Romeo Lane-linked properties: a beach shack in Vagator and another venue in Assagao. “Action has been initiated against both properties as they were involved in disputes,” an official said.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Sunday that a state police team had already travelled to Delhi to trace the Luthras.
Both the promoters would be arrested as an FIR has been registered against them in connection with the blaze, he added.
Fireworks emerged as the likely cause of the blaze at 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora, located 25 km from Panaji, officials said on Sunday, adding that the facility allegedly did not possess even a fire department NOC.
The deceased included 20 employees of the nightclub and five tourists, including four from Delhi.
Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as the victims got trapped on the ground floor and in the kitchen, said a fire brigade official.
As per initial information, the nightclub had not adhered to fire safety norms, CM Sawant said on Sunday.
A preliminary inquiry indicated that "electric firecrackers" were set off inside, which started the blaze at 11.45 pm on Saturday, Sawant said.
The CM has directed Chief Secretary V Candavelou and DGP Alok Kumar to identify and act against the government officials who allowed the club to operate even though it violated safety rules.
