Big Diplomatic win for India as 7 Navy personnel held in Qatar return to India

Guwahati, Feb 12:In a major diplomatic win for India, eight Indian Navy veterans who were jailed on charges of espionage in Qatar have been released, of which seven are already back in their home country, the government said on Monday.

“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 foreign ministry informed.

It may be mentioned that eight Indian Navy veterans were arrested in August 2022 on charges of espionage in connection with a submarine programme believed to be on behalf of Israel and have been in jail since. The Navy personnel have been identified as 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.

On October 26, 2023, a Qatar court sentenced them death penalty, however, the capital punishment was commuted in December.