In a major diplomatic triumph for India, Qatar released eight ex-Indian navy personnel who were arrested and commuted capital punishment in connection with an alleged case of espionage in 2022. 

“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,” the Ministry of External Affairs informed in a communique on Monday morning.

“We waited almost for 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the PM. It wouldn’t have been possible without his intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the Government of India from the bottom of our hearts for every effort that has been made and this day won’t have been possible without those efforts,” One of the Navy veterans who returned from Qatar mentioned to ANI

What was the case? 

The eight veterans of the Indian Navy include 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. All were working in their capacity for a private company viz Dahra Global. They were overseeing the induction of Italian U212 stealth submarines in the Qatari Emiri Naval Force.

On August 30, 2022, all Navy veterans were arrested on undeclared charges and put in solitary confinement. Almost a year later in August 2023, they were allowed to move from solitary confinement to a jail ward with two men in each cell.

In October last year, a Qatari court commuted the death penalty to all eight men. The Qatar court of appeals commuted the death sentence, following diplomatic intervention by Delhi, on December 28, 2023. 

Notably, the charges on which the personnel were arrested were not made public till November last year. On November 9, 2023, the MEA said that its legal team had obtained the details of the charges.

Further, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar had at the time met family members of the sentenced men, and assured them that the government would make all efforts to secure their release.