8 Former Indian Navy Men Facing Spying Charge Released by Qatar, 7 Reach India

New Delhi: Eight former Indian Navy personnel who were sentenced to death in Qatar were released. Seven of them have returned to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “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 Emir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals.”

The seven former Navy men who returned to India after getting released from Qatar jail were Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh.

They were serving a private company — Dahra Global Company to assist the introduction of Italian U212 stealth submarines into the Qatari Emiri Naval Force.

On Aug 30, 2022, these eight former Indian Navy personnel were arrested and placed in solitary confinement. Reports stated that were arrested by Qatar’s intelligence agency for spying.

On October 26, 2023, a Qatar court sentenced all these eight men to death. On Nov 9, 2023, India filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Navy personnel. On Nov 23, 2023, the Qatar court accepted India’s appeal against the death penalty. On Dec 28, 2023, India announced that the eight ex-Navy personnel will now face commuted punishments.

On Feb 12, 2024, India announced that the eight veterans of the Indian Navy have been released.