Qatari court awards death sentence to 8 Indian ex-Navy personnel

Eight former Indian Navy personnel were on Thursday handed down death sentence by a court in Qatar, a verdict that was described as "deeply" shocking by India as it vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

The Indian nationals, who worked with private security company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. However, neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

In its reaction, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said it is attaching "high importance" to this case and is exploring all legal options.

The former Indian Navy personnel are Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh, according to people familiar with the matter.

All of the former Navy officers had "unblemished stints" of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions including that of instructors in the force, they said.

"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," the MEA said.

"We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgment. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," it said.

The MEA said it will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the Indians.

"We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities," it said in a statement.

The MEA said it would "not be appropriate to make any further comments at this juncture" due to the "confidential nature of the proceedings".

"Due to the confidential nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture," it added.

India's ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on October 1 after being granted consular access.

They had impeccable service records and had taken voluntary retirements in search of greener pastures, one of the people cited above said.

As part of Al Dahra security company, the Indians were imparting training to Qatari naval personnel for the last few years, the people cited above said.

The Al Dahra security company had some arrangements with the Qatari authorities for facilitating training to Qatari naval personnel, they said.

The company wound up its operations after the arrest of one of its personnel.

There were reports that the top executive of Al Dahra was taken into custody but he was released a couple of months later.

It is learnt that the former Indian naval personnel were kept in solitary confinement for several months before they were transferred to "two-person" cells.

"This (the Qatari court verdict) is unbelievable. I am sure the government will leave no stone unturned to ensure release of the veterans," said former Indian Navy spokesperson Capt (retd) D K Sharma.

The people cited above said charges were also framed against two Qatari nationals, one of whom is Khamis al-Ajmi, the CEO of Al Dahra Global. Al-Ajmi was also kept in solitary confinement for a period of two months and was granted bail later.

The company's CEO, an Omani national who had also been detained, was released just before the beginning of the FIFA Football World Cup in Qatar, the people said.

The bail pleas of the Indians were rejected on multiple occasions, they said.

It is learnt that the families of the former Indian Navy personnel had filed a mercy plea to the Emir of Qatar. However, there is no confirmation of it.

The people said the case has been taken up by India at various official and political levels with Qatar.

They said the Indians were working on a "commercial basis" and the government is doing everything possible to help them just as it does for every Indian citizen.

Some sources indicated that the Indian nationals were overseeing the induction of Italian small stealth U2I2 submarines as part of their work at Al Dahra.

Deepak Mittal, former Indian ambassador to Doha, met the detainees thrice during their detention, the people said.

The charges were filed against the eight Indian Navy veterans on March 25 and they are tried under Qatari law.

In May, Al Dahra Global closed its operations in Doha and all those working there (primarily Indians) have since returned home.

In the past, the Navy had taken up the case of the former naval personnel with top brass of the government for securing their release.