THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Feb 12: Qatar has released eight former Indian Navy officers who were detained in the Gulf nation over suspected espionage charges, marking a significant diplomatic win for India.
In a statement issued early on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) hailed the development and stated that seven of the eight former members of the Indian Navy who were employed by the private company Dahra Global Company had returned to India from Qatar.
“The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global Company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” in a statement the MEA said.
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Earlier in December last year, a court in Qatar reduced the death sentences given to eight former members of the Indian Navy to jail terms.
This came after the Indian government’s appeal against the Navy veterans’ death sentences was granted by Qatar’s Court of First Instance.
The notable progress occurred several weeks subsequent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, during the COP28 summit in Dubai.
The case
In October, a Qatari court handed down death sentences to eight ex-Indian Navy personnel who had been held in the country for more than a year.
In August 2022, Qatar apprehended eight former Indian Navy officers over allegations of espionage for Israel during their employment with a company in the Middle East.
The ex-officers, including Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were detained by Qatar’s intelligence agency in Doha on August 30, 2022.
The Qatari authorities consistently denied bail requests from the Navy veterans, and the Court of First Instance in Qatar pronounced the death penalty in October of this year.
