NEW DELHI: Advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing a victim’s family in the Goa nightclub fire case, on Wednesday said that one of the Luthra brothers requested a Dunlop mattress during police remand.Joshi explained that the court carefully considered the brothers’ health claims before granting custody. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Today, when the Goa Police presented them in court, one accused, during their arguments, claimed he had spinal issues and other health problems. He requested that they be provided with a Dunlop mattress during their police remand. The state strongly opposed this… Their pre-medical examination showed them to be perfectly fit.”He added that the duo had attempted to evade legal proceedings since fleeing India.
“Since these people (Luthra brothers) absconded and fled the country, they have been employing tactics to somehow escape. First, they filed an anticipatory bail application on vague grounds in the Rohini Court, even though that court had no jurisdiction… But that bail application was rejected. Since then, they have been trying wherever they get a chance to obtain some kind of relaxation,” Joshi said.Joshi explained that the court carefully considered the brothers’ health claims before ordering custody. “The brothers claimed to be suffering from back pain. The court considered all submissions and directed the police to first conduct a pre-medical examination and re-examination. No medical necessity was found, following which the court, exercising its full authority, granted five days of police remand,” he said.The Luthra brothers, owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, were remanded to five-day police custody by the Mapusa Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court. They were brought back to Goa from Thailand following their deportation and produced before the court after undergoing multiple medical examinations.After landing at Manohar International Airport, Mopa, under police escort around 10.45 am, the duo was taken to a primary health centre in Siolim and then to the District Hospital in Mapusa. The court directed fresh medical examinations before ordering the five-day custody to allow investigators to question them regarding alleged safety lapses at the club.The blaze broke out on December 6 around 11.45 pm during a crowded event at the nightclub, when electric firecrackers allegedly struck the wooden ceiling. The incident claimed the lives of 25 people, including tourists and staff, while several others were injured.Police said the brothers fled India hours after the incident on December 7, leaving for Thailand while rescue operations were under way. Goa Police launched a nationwide and international manhunt, issued a lookout circular and sought an Interpol Blue Notice.Following their detention by Thai authorities for illegal stay and the suspension of their passports, the brothers were deported to India on emergency travel documents. They landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday and were arrested by Goa Police, who obtained a 48-hour transit remand from a Delhi court to facilitate their return to Goa.They have been booked under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligence. Investigators have also arrested several others linked to the nightclub’s operations and are probing allegations that the venue was operating with expired licences and without mandatory safety clearances.
