Key Highlights
- (PTI photo)Divyesh SinghUPDATED: Jan 17, 2026 10:50 ISTWritten By: Mayukh DebnathThe police on Friday arrested Raghuvir Bagkar, the former panchayat secretary of the Arpora Panchayat in Goa, who was removed from service following the fire that killed 25 people at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub last month. The arrest came after a magistrate rejected his pending plea for anticipatory bail.
- Bagkar is a key person of interest in the probe into the tragic December 6, 2025 nightclub fire. advertisementA magisterial enquiry ordered by the Goa government has already flagged forgery, trade licence violations and illegal construction as major factors behind the deadly blaze.
- One of the findings of the probe panel suggests that Bagkar allowed Birch by Romeo Lane to operate despite its trade licence having expired.
- This finding emerged following an India Today expose on the grant of a trade licence to the establishment and the role of the panchayat in permitting its continued operation. The lack of enforcement over the expired licence, which should ideally have triggered the closure of the nightclub, has been cited as a critical failure of the oversight mechanism. Investigators also found that the grant of the trade licence was expedited by bypassing mandatory procedures.
- The committee specifically flagged the speed of approval and the failure to verify the adequacy of documents submitted by the club’s owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra. The report further noted that Bagkar, in his capacity as panchayat secretary, approved land use for the nightclub based on a house number that, upon verification by authorities, was found to not exist. The fictitious address enabled the operators of Birch by Romeo Lane to bypass checks meant to establish the legitimacy of the premises.
