Requests by The Phuket News since last week for any public statement on the arrests of the Luthra brothers have been met with silence. The silence by Thai officials has also seen the Thai media avoid the story.
The most comprehensive reply The Phuket News has able to obtain from Phuket Immigration, as of this morning (Dec 15), was a flat denial to comment.
The Luthra brothers fled to Phuket hours after the fire ripped through the nightclub, authorities in India confirmed last week.
According to initial reports, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra left for Phuket on flights from Goa on Dec 7, Indian media outlets reported, quoting the PTI news agency, adding that the flight the brothers were believed to have taken was IndiGo flight 6E1073.
Social media photos of the brothers at Phuket Airport were widely shared online.
Nagesh Singh, India’s ambassador to Thailand, confirmed to the BBC late last week that the two brothers had been detained in Thailand.
"They will be sent back [to India]," Mr Singh said last Thursday, a day after a court in Delhi refused to grant them protection from arrest and the Goa government approached India’s external affairs ministry to revoke their passports.
At latest report, according to The Federal, Thai Immigration officials have begun deportation proceedings against the Luthra brothers.
According to the BBC report, the brothers said that they "never intended to evade" the law and they will cooperate with authorities on returning to India.
The deadly blaze broke out early on Sunday at the nightclub, located in a busy nightlife area of the tourist state of Goa.
Investigators believe the fire was triggered by fireworks being set off inside the venue, rapidly spreading through the packed club.
Most of those killed were staff members, while five victims were tourists, according to Indian authorities.
Police said they raided the brothers’ home in Delhi within hours of the fire but discovered they had already fled the country. Interpol assistance was then sought to trace their movements abroad.
The Luthra brothers have since issued a statement through their lawyer, saying they will return to India on Thursday and “submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the police authorities and the judicial system” of the country.
“We undertake to co-operate with the police authorities,” the statement said, reported the BBC.
Saurabh Luthra, whose social media profiles identify him as chairman of the company operating the club, later posted a message online expressing “profound grief” over the incident.
“The management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured,” he wrote, adding that the nightclub’s management would provide “assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved”.
Last Wednesday, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant confirmed that six people had been arrested in connection with the incident so far, warning that “more arrests will be made soon”.
Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the Arabian Sea, is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, drawing millions of visitors each year for its beaches, resorts and nightlife.