The North Goa district administration on Tuesday demolished a part of a beach shack run by the owners of the club where 25 persons died in a fire on December 7, ANI reported.

A part of the Romeo Lane restaurant in the Vagator area, owned by Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra, was demolished for allegedly encroaching on the beach, Deputy Director of Goa Tourism Dhiraj Wagale told the news agency.

“The total area to be demolished is 198 square metres,” Wagale had said earlier in the day.

The fire had erupted around midnight on December 7 in a club named Birch By Romeo Lane, located near Baga beach, one of the most popular tourist spots in the state. Twenty staff members and five tourists were killed.

Five persons, including the manager of the club, have been arrested in the matter. Saurav Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, who live in North Delhi’s Outram Lane, were also booked.

The brothers were in Delhi when the blaze erupted. However, they are believed to have fled the country for Thailand hours after the fire broke out.

The Interpol has issued a Blue Corner notice against them, PTI quoted Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s office as saying.

A blue corner notice makes it mandatory for any one of the 192 member countries to share the whereabouts of a person.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure.