Qatari authorities arrested eight former Indian Navy personnel in August last year and have sentenced them to death. In response to the development, the Ministry of External Affairs expressed shock over the verdict on Thursday and stated that India will discuss the matter with the Qatari authorities.
“Authorities jailed the officers on charges that they have not publicly disclosed. “The verdict of the death penalty deeply shocks us and we are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are communicating with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options,” stated an MEA press release.
In August 2022, the retired officers were arrested on charges of spying and were accused of espionage and state-sponsored terrorism. According to reports, the eight men were spying for Qatar on a secret naval project.
Who are these former Navy officers?
A court in Qatar sentenced eight former Indian Navy personnel to death after detaining them for more than a year. The men are:
- Captain Navtej Singh Gill
- Captain Birendra Kumar Verma
- Captain Saurabh Vasisht
- Commander Amit Nagpal
- Commander Purnendu Tiwari
- Commander Sugunakar Pakala
- Commander Sanjeev Gupta
- Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar
The company’s website, which they removed after this newspaper reported the arrests on October 28, declared that it offered training, logistics, and maintenance services to the Qatari Emiri Naval Force. However, the company, now named Dahra Global on its new website, makes no mention of its connections to the QENF, nor the seven officers who previously held leadership roles.
The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement expressing its shock at the verdict and stated it would take up the issue with Qatari authorities.
The Managing Director, Commander Purnendu Tiwari (retd), received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award in 2019 for his services that furthered the bilateral relationship between India and Qatar. He stands as the only person from the armed forces to receive the award.
Then Indian Ambassador P Kumaran and a former head of the Qatar defence forces’ International Military Cooperation feted him in Doha. The Indian Cultural Centre hosted the function. Captain Kapil Kaushik, of the Indian Navy, who served as the defence attache at the Embassy of India at that time, also attended this event.
What are they charged with?
Al Dahra company’s Indian national employees were taken into custody in August last year due to an alleged espionage case. Qatari authorities have not made the charges against the Indian nationals public. The government says it is still waiting for the detailed judgement.
On September 30, the authorities allowed the men to have a “brief telephonic contact” with their family members. On October 3, more than a month after taking them into custody, they granted the first consular access- a visit by an official from the Indian embassy.
At least for the next few months, authorities allowed them to make weekly phone calls to their family members. The authorities never publicized the charges against the men; however, the fact that they confined them in solitary caused speculation that they detained them due to a security-related offence.
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