Accused in nightclub fire case has fled to UK, shielded by `big guys', claims original land owner
Panaji (PTI): Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar, original owner of the land on which the fire-ravaged nightclub in North Goa stood, alleged on Friday that "some big guys" were protecting Surinder Kumar Khosla, one of the accused in the case.
In an interview with PTI, Amonkar claimed that police allowed Khosla, a British national, to flee to the UK after the devastating fire at `Birch by Romeo Lane' club at Arpora village claimed 25 lives on December 6.
Amonkar has been fighting a legal battle against Khosla to get the land back from him. Goa police, who has arrested eight persons including club owners Saurabh Luthra, Gaurav Luthra and Ajay Gupta, have named Khosla as an accused in the same First Information Report over the blaze. Police were still looking for Khosla, according to a senior official.
"The demolition order by the village panchayat against the club was in Khosla's name. All the complaints filed against the club named Khosla. He is the prime accused," Amonkar claimed.
But despite being the "prime accused", Khosla managed to flee the country as "some big guys are protecting him," he said, adding that the Arpora-Nagoa panchayat gave permission to the nightclub despite being informed in writing that the land did not belong to those who had sought the permission.
Amonkar recently filed a civil suit against Khosla before the Goa Bench of the Bombay High court which was converted into a Public Interest Litigation to fix accountability for the fire tragedy.
Talking about his association with Khosla, Amonkar said he had initially rented out 24 out of 107 apartments constructed on the piece of land adjacent to the club to Khosla in 2004.
According to Amonkar, six months after entering into an agreement to sell his land to Khosla, he withdrew his consent as no payment was received, but Khosla did not restore the possession to him and allowed a nightclub to be set up on the land.
Khosla was "very much in Goa" when the fire incident took place as he was supposed to attend a court hearing, said Amonkar.
He believed that the investigation was on the right track, but had some doubts as Khosla was not arrested, he said.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
