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3 min readPanajiJun 18, 2026 05:30 AM IST
A fire at the nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora on December 6 last year killed 25 people, including five tourists. (Express File Photo)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Panaji Zonal Office has filed a prosecution complaint against the owners and partners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in connection with a money laundering investigation pertaining to the alleged illegal operation of the club in Goa.
A fire at the nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora on December 6 last year killed 25 people, including five tourists. The brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who ran the club, had taken a flight from Delhi to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, just hours after the incident. The duo booked the tickets at 1.17 am on December 7 to flee the country, within 90 minutes of the blaze. Goa Police had booked the Luthra brothers and the club’s partners, manager, event organiser and other managing staff, and charged the accused with culpable homicide.
The ED had initiated the investigation based on two FIRs registered by Goa Police at Anjuna Police Station and Mapusa Police Station against the accused under various provisions of the BNS, 2023. The FIRs relate to the fire incident and offences of forgery, including fake and fabricated No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and other statutory documents used for obtaining regulatory approvals.
Sources said the prosecution complaint was filed against the company, ‘M/S Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP’, which operated Birch; its owners and partners Saurabh Luthra, Gaurav Luthra and Ajay Gupta; and the property owner Surinder Kumar Khosla, before the Special PMLA Court last week. Saurabh Luthra, Gaurav Luthra and Ajay Gupta are out on bail, while UK national Surinder Khosla remains absconding.
In the prosecution complaint, the ED is learnt to have stated that the investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) found that the establishment was being operated by M/s Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP without obtaining mandatory statutory approvals, including the requisite fire NOC. It said the partners of the establishment allegedly submitted forged documents for obtaining licences, projected the illegal establishment as legitimate, and continued commercial operations despite the absence and expiry of mandatory licences.
The complaint states that the investigation revealed that the establishment generated total revenue of over Rs 29.78 crore during the period from financial year 2023-24 to 2025-26 (till December 6, 2025), which has been identified as proceeds of crime under the provisions of the PMLA. It said the establishment’s trade licence expired on March 31, 2024, and was not renewed, but it continued to operate in violation of statutory requirements.
Earlier, the ED had conducted searches on January 23 at multiple premises linked to the accused, resulting in the seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices, and the freezing of bank accounts. The ED had also attached properties valued at at least Rs 28 crore under the PMLA in connection with the probe.
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A magisterial inquiry set up by the Goa government to probe the fire at the club had found that the local panchayat “colluded” with the owners of the property, allowing the club to be run illegally without a valid trade licence. The panchayat “failed in its statutory duty” and took no action to seal the property or shut its operations, the inquiry said.
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