On Thursday, a court in Qatar sentenced to death eight ex-officials of the Indian Navy who were being held in the Gulf country on serious espionage allegations.
Anxiously anticipating the judgment’s specifics, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has voiced serious concern following the verdict, as reported by The Hindu.
Formerly serving in various capacities in the Indian Navy, the personnel are now accused of spying for Israel. All evidence points to the suspects having worked for the Indian intelligence organization RAW. It has been stated that they were apprehended in the act of spying in Qatar.
The investigation agency claims that these officials informed Israel about Qatar’s covert plan to purchase high-tech submarines from Italy.
Following the announcement of the verdict, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement reading, “We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgment in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company.” It went on to say, “We are gravely startled by the verdict of a death punishment and are waiting for the complete ruling. We have been in contact with the family and their legal counsel and are looking into all of their available alternatives.
The statement emphasized the seriousness of the issue and the relevance of this case, as well as the Indian government’s commitment to giving assistance. Authorities promised the public that they would continue to offer consular and legal help and would also bring up the subject with Qatari authorities, which they said they had been closely following.
However, the MEA stated that the proceedings would be held in strict confidence, thus no further comments would be made at this time.
Capt. Navtej Singh Gill, Capt. Birendra Kumar Verma, Capt. Saurabh Vasisht, Cmdr. Amit Nagpal, Cmdr. Purnendu Tiwari, Cmdr. Sanjeev Gupta, Cmdr. Sugunakar Pakala, and Sailor Ragesh are just eight of the ex-officers who served in the Indian Navy. On August 30, 2022, they were captured in Doha by the Qatari intelligence agencies.
In addition to the head of Qatar’s worldwide military activities, the chief executive officer of a private defense company was also arrested.
India’s international reputation has taken a hit because of this occurrence, despite official attempts to play it down. Following the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan and the recent assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, the arrest of these eight Indian Navy officers in Qatar for alleged espionage raises serious diplomatic concerns.
