Panaji: Anjuna police on Friday arrested former Arpora-Nagoa panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar in connection with the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane at Arpora, where 25 people were killed, said Anjuna PI Suraj Gawas.Bagkar had been missing since the sessions court, Mapusa, rejected his anticipatory bail application along with that of sarpanch Roshan Redkar on Dec 30, 2025. He later approached the high court to seek anticipatory bail, this petition is currently pending.After the local court rejected his bail plea, Anjuna police began trying to trace him.
On Dec 7, govt suspended three officials in the wake of the blaze — Siddhi Tushar Harlankar, then director/additional director of panchayats, Shamila Monteiro, then member secretary of Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB), and Bagkar.Govt later terminated Bagkar’s services.Later, GSPCB suspended two of its staff — scientific assistant Chaitanya Salgaonkar and junior environmental engineer Vijay Harichandra Kansekar — for not conducting a proper inspection at Birch by Romeo Lane.The magisterial inquiry report gave 60 recommendations to state govt, including actions and steps that need to be put in place to prevent fire incidents like the one at Birch. The inquiry report ran into 108 pages, besides 500+ pages of annexures î –and statements.
