Goa police question Arpora panchayat members over nightclub licences after deadly fire

Panaji: The Goa Police on Saturday recorded the statements of five members of the Arpora village panchayat, which has come under scrutiny for granting a trade licence to a nightclub that was allowed to operate without a valid construction licence and occupancy certificate before a massive fire last Saturday, officials said.

Twenty-five people were killed and six injured after a massive blaze ripped through the nightclub — Birch by Romeo Lane — in the coastal village of Arpora in north Goa around 11.45 pm on December 6.

The local body, on the basis of whose trade licence issued in 2023 several other departments had granted permissions — including the Goa state pollution control board, the food and drugs administration and the excise department — is under scrutiny, officials said.

However, the trade licence expired in March 2024, and the panchayat, following a complaint, had issued a demolition order against the establishment. The order was stayed on appeal by the deputy director of panchayats.

According to investigating authorities, the village head (sarpanch) had signed no-objection certificates (NOCs) for electricity and water connections, house repairs, and had issued a trade licence, among other permissions.

The premises continued to operate even after the expiry of the trade licence. “Under Section 72-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, the local body is empowered to seal such premises. However, they failed to do so,” the investigating authorities said.

Sarpanch Roshan Redkar said that all permissions issued earlier to the establishment were based on resolutions validly adopted by the panchayat body during its meetings, and not his decision alone.

Both sarpanch Roshan Redkar and panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar on Friday deposed before the police after securing interim protection from arrest from a local court.

Earlier, the police had recorded the statements of the director of panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar, who had granted a stay on the demolition, and the then member secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, Shamila Monteiro, who had granted the premises consent to operate.

On Saturday, the police custody of the four accused managers — chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania, and general manager Vivek Singh — who were arrested the following morning, was extended by a further five days.

Meanwhile, the state, through newly constituted joint enforcement committees, sealed a nightclub located at Ozrant in Vagator — not far from the recently demolished Romeo Lane beach-facing party shack — for operating without the requisite licences on Saturday. With this, the total number of establishments sealed so far has risen to four, including two nightclubs and two spas.