International Desk: Eight former Indian Navy officers imprisoned in Qatar have been released. A Qatari court sentenced them to death in October last year for spying for Israel. Qatar has finally released former Indian Navy personnel in a massive diplomatic effort.
Indian media NDTV reported this information in a report on Monday (February 12). In this regard, the Ministry of External Affairs of India said, “The Government of India welcomes the return of eight Indians imprisoned in Qatar. They worked for Dahra Global Company. Seven of the eight have already returned to India. While working for Dahra Global, these Indian Navy officers allegedly smuggled classified information to Israel. They were then sentenced to death.
The former naval officers who were executed and eventually freed are: Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Sourav Vashisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Virendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Seaman Ragesh.
It should be noted that in August 2022, the eight naval officers were arrested by the Qatari intelligence agency. They were working for private organizations in Qatar. They were accused of espionage in Israel. Last December, a Qatari court reviewed the death penalty decision of Indian naval personnel. Their sentences were reduced and ordered to imprisonment. The Indian government has formally requested the Qatari court to review the sentence. After that, Qatar decided to release those officials.
