Goa court extends police custody of Luthra brothers till Dec 29, grants bail to Kohli

PANAJI: A compass north Goa margaret court on fri remanded entrepreneurs, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, to quaternity sir thomas more days in police custody, on the request of the state police that sought additional time to recover certain documents crucial for its investigation into the devastating fire that broke out at their nightclub on December 6 night.The brothers, who had fled to Phuket within hours of a fire ripping through Birch by Romeo Lane, have been in custody of the state police since December 16, when they were arrested by after being deported from Thailand.Lawyer Parag Rao, speaking on behalf of the brothers, told reporters that they did not “seriously oppose” the police request for extension in police remand since the Luthra brothers wanted to cooperate with the investigation“They (Luthra brothers) have been there at least since 16th, and this is an incident which has happened - which is site specific - when they are not even in Goa. And their general managers and other managers are also in custody for such a long time. But still they are there, my clients are there and they are extending full cooperation,” Rao said.Meanwhile, the court granted bail to Bharat Singh Kohli, the business manager who was alleged to to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the club on behalf of the Luthras.“The bail application has been allowed. Granted bail to the accused Bharat on the condition of a personal bond of ₹50,000 along with one surety. He has to report to the Investigating Officer on the first Monday of every month, and deposit his passport,” advocate Vaibhav Amonkar said.In their initial statements, the brothers had insisted that they were not responsible for the day-to-day operations of the nightclub and this responsibility lay on the managers hired for the purpose.The court has also granted interim anticipatory bail to the Luthra brothers in connection with a second FIR alleging cheating and forgery. They brothers along with other accused, are accused of forging a No Objection Certificate from the health ffice and producing it as genuine to obtain an excise and other licences.The court granted the two interim protection during the pendency of their application for an arrest shield in the second FIR.The Goa Police have already re-arrested Ajay Gupta, the silent partner of the Luthra brothers in the forgery case.The Goa Police have arrested eight people in the case, three of whom have now been granted bail.The first FIR for the fire that killed 25 people was filed on December 7, and accuses them of charges under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125(a) and (b) (endangering life and personal safety), and 287 (negligent conduct with fire or combustible matter) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.