Goa nightclub fire: co-owner detained as authorities raze encroachment at sister property

Goa Police on Tuesday detained Ajay Gupta, one of the owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, as the administration hurried to display action after a blaze at the venue killed 25 people over the weekend.

Gupta was held in Delhi after police teams failed to locate him during an earlier visit to his residence. A lookout circular had been issued against him and another co-owner, Surinder Kumar Khosla. Officials said Gupta would be formally arrested once the procedure to bring him to Goa is completed.

He becomes the sixth person linked to the case to be detained. Five staff members, including senior managers and a bar supervisor, have already been arrested. Two other co-owners, brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, remain missing, with a blue corner notice issued for them.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight on Saturday at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, North Goa, claiming 25 lives and prompting widespread outrage from residents and tourists.

Bulldozer action at another club owned by same promoters

Amid rising public anger, the state government on Tuesday demolished an illegal extension at Romeo Lane, a popular beachside club in Vagator owned by the same promoters behind the fire-hit Birch outlet.

The demolition, carried out under police supervision, targeted a 198 sq. m encroached portion that extended onto Tourism Department land. The main structure, located on private property, was not touched.

Residents were quick to call the move cosmetic.

“This demolition is pure eyewash,” said local resident Mahesh Dabholkar, who has repeatedly flagged violations at Vagator. “They have knocked this extension down several times and each time it comes back. The real question is why the authorities allowed it to be rebuilt again and again.”

Officials acknowledged that the same encroachment had been removed multiple times in the past, including once by the Tourism Department earlier this year. Each time, the structure reappeared, pointing to what residents say is a culture of impunity and selective enforcement.

Wider concerns over regulatory lapse

Locals say both Romeo Lane and Birch by Romeo Lane have operated for years despite complaints over planning breaches, noise violations and questionable licences.

The tragedy, they argue, has merely exposed a deeper problem: that oversight exists only on paper, while operators are allowed to function above the law.

“If the government really wants to show it is serious, it should investigate how so many hilltop structures in Vagator got permissions,” Dabholkar said.

As the bulldozer dust settled, the sense along the coast was one of scepticism: that the hurried demolition was more about optics in the wake of public anger than a sustained effort to enforce rules.

With two owners still missing and a criminal investigation underway, residents fear the cycle may repeat once attention fades, illegal structures returning, while authorities return to silence.

With agency inputs