File picture of an excavator demolishing wooden structures at Romeo Lane on Anjuna beach in Goa after a fire at the adjacent Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub killed 25 people
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Enforcement Directorate has been conducting search operations since early Friday morning (January 23, 2026) on the residential and office premises of the Luthra brothers and Ajay Gupta, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane, in Arpora, Goa, where a fire claimed 25 lives during a party last month.
The ED aims to probe the money-laundering angle linked to the illegal functioning of the club and the role of its promoters, in the backdrop of the unfortunate fire accident in Goa that claimed 25 lives on December 6, 2025.
Searches are being conducted at eight to nine locations across Delhi and Goa, including premises at Outram Lanes (Kingsway Camp), Tatvam Villas in Gurugram, and the premises of the then Sarpanch, Roshan Redkar, and the Panchayat Secretary, Raghuvir Bagkar, in Goa. They are alleged to have facilitated and issued illegal trade licences and no-objection certificates.
The ED teams are also present on the premises of Surinder Kumar Khosla to examine the money-laundering angle arising from the illegal conversion of khazan land (salt pan) on which Birch by Romeo Lane was situated, said agency sources.
Published – January 23, 2026 11:19 am IST