India, Dec. 13 -- The Goa Police on Saturday recorded the statements of five members of the Arpora village panchayat, which has come under scrutiny for granting a trade licence to a nightclub that was allowed to operate without a valid construction licence and occupancy certificate before a massive fire last Saturday, officials said.

Twenty-five people were killed and six injured after a massive blaze ripped through the nightclub - Birch by Romeo Lane - in the coastal village of Arpora in north Goa around 11.45 pm on December 6.

The local body, on the basis of whose trade licence issued in 2023 several other departments had granted permissions - including the Goa state pollution control board, the food and drugs administration and the e...