It’s sad that hotel owners are treated badly just because so many of them break rules and take local laws for granted

Gaurav Luthra (centre) and Saurabh Luthra (right) in custody of the Thailand police after they fled India following a fire at their Goa nightclub on December 6, 2025 that claimed 25 lives. FILE PIC/PTI

I have to admit I was upset when visuals of those two brothers from Delhi began to appear on television screens. I refer to the owners of a nightclub in Goa that burned on December 6, taking the lives of 25 people. The brothers looked forlorn, which saddened me, but part of me was relieved too because their relatives had told police they didn’t have their phone numbers. Imagining the relief they must have felt helped me calm down.

It was interesting to note how news channels pursued that story relentlessly, but I assumed this was because the number of people who died was below 50. I believe if larger numbers of Indians perish — on account of mismanagement during a pandemic, for instance — anchors on television lose interest and focus on other issues. It’s just a theory I consider now and again.

Anyway, they did follow this story quite doggedly, asking questions about how the brothers escaped, who tipped........

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