Eighth Indian Navy veteran in Qatar returns home after fulfilling ‘certain requirements’: MEA
Commander Purnendu Tiwari has been released from prison along with seven others, but he is yet to land in India.
Indian and Qatar: The eighth Indian Navy veteran who was sentenced to death in Qatar along with seven others on espionage charges will return home after fulfilling ‘certain requirements’. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) announced this on Thursday.
Although Commander Purnendu Tiwari has been released from prison along with seven others, he is yet to land in India. Sources say he may return next week.
“As you know, all eight Indian nationals involved in the Dahra Global case have been released. Seven of them have returned to India. The eighth Indian citizen has to fulfill certain requirements, he will return once these are fulfilled,” said Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, while addressing a weekly media briefing on Thursday.
Randhir Jaiswal did not elaborate on the requirements that Commander Tiwari had to fulfill to ensure his return to India. Earlier, Commander Tiwari’s cousin Dr Meetu Bhargava had expressed her joy on hearing the news of his release, which she said would not have been possible without Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s help.
Earlier, seven Indian Navy veterans who were sentenced to death in Qatar returned to India on February 12. The eight Indians worked for Doha-based Dahra Global and were taken into custody in August 2022.
The seven were identified as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Seaman Rajesh.
Know the full case
In August 2022, eight former Indian Navy personnel, all employees of the Al Dahra company, were arrested by Qatari authorities for alleged espionage. However, the charges against them were not made public by Qatar. On October 26, the naval veterans were sentenced to death by the Qatari Court of First Instance after being convicted of espionage.
The charges were filed against the eight Indian Navy veterans on March 25, 2023, and were tried under Qatari law.
All the former naval officers had had “immaculate stints” of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions, including that of instructors in the force.
The eight Indian nationals had been held in custody in Qatar since October 2022 and were accused of spying on a submarine programme. The retired naval personnel were sentenced to death by a court in Qatar on charges that have not yet been officially made public.