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8 Ex Indian naval officers Officers Detained In Qatar allegedly running a spy ring for Israel
1-24-2023
8 Ex Indian naval officers Officers Detained In Qatar allegedly running a spy ring for Israel
Reports are making the rounds on social media claiming that Qatar has expelled India’s Defence Attaché for alleged involvement in espionage for Israel.
Pertinent to mention that eight former Indian Navy officers were detained in Qatar last year. The New Indian Express said the former naval officers were ‘mysteriously’ detained in Doha.
“All of them were working for a firm called Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy and were reportedly engaged in conducting naval exercises,” it said. “The officers were working with Dahra in Doha for the past five years. Sometime in August, they were picked up from their homes in the middle of the night by the State Security Bureau, ministry of interior Qatar,” the report said.
The detained officers include Commander Purnendu Tiwari (awarded President’s medal), the managing director of the company. The others are Cdr Navtej Singh Gill, director (naval training); Cdr Birendra Kumar Verma, director of the naval academy; Cdr Sugunakar Pakala, director, FCN; Cdr Sanjeev Gupta, Cdr Amit Nagpal, Capt Saurab Vasisht and Ragesh Gopakumar.
Reports claimed that the officers were detained by Qatar on charges of spying for Israel, however, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed no information regarding the allegations against these former officials.
The latest round of reports claims that Qatar has expelled the Indian Defence Attaché for being linked to the detained ex-naval officers. The reports are yet to be officially verified.
On 3 November, India’s MEA claimed that the Indian mission to Doha is working diligently for their release and repatriation from Qatar. In addition, the Spokesperson for the MEA, Arindam Bagchi, stated that the Indian Embassy in Doha communicated with the Qatari authorities and that the Indian diplomats gained consular access to the detained officials and confirmed their well-being.
Indian opposition parties mounted pressure on the Indian government to come clean. “The Indian Government need to act immediately, swiftly & walk the talk if they really care about their defence personnel as today is 69th day of the illegal solitary confinement of our senior citizen Navy Veterans (officers) in Doha (Qatar),” wrote Dr Meetu Bhargava, her message copied to the prime minister, external affairs minister and the defence minister, among others.
The Times said it was surprised by the silence. “For more than 100 days now, the decorated soldiers have been locked up in solitary confinement and the government has not told us why the Naval officers were picked up from their homes in the dead of night.
“In the age of information and the weightage the Centre gives to the armed forces, it is mysterious why there is a deafening silence surrounding the arrest of the eight officers.”
India-Qatar ties
The traditionally warm India-Qatar relationship received a fillip when a Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa, trying to escape her family’s clutches, was seized in her luxury yacht near Goa by ‘commandos’ and handed over to the Gulf regime in 2018.
Although a UK court had named Indian special forces as being involved in picking up the royal family member for the handover, there was no official comment from the Indian government.
It was after the 2018 incident that the Indian and the Qatari navies began a naval military exercise called “Zair al Bahr” which first kicked off in 2019, with the second edition being held in 2021.
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