Eight Indian Navy personnel have been sentenced to death by a local court in Qatar after charges of spying on Qatar’s secret submarine program for Israel were proven against them.
The Indian Navy personnel were arrested in August last year, however, the Qatari authorities didn’t make details about the charges against them public.
Months later, it was revealed that the 8 Indians were spying for Israel. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was also deeply interested in the matter as they termed it a “high priority” issue.
According to the details, they were the employees of a company named Al Dahra. It was working for the Qatari government on a program aimed at obtaining high-tech Italian-made submarines.
Reports claim that the chief executive of the company was also kept in solitary confinement for two months when he tried to get the Indians released.
Earlier this month, the Indian ambassador to Qatar met the 8 men after getting consular access. India closely followed their trial, which ended in the death penalty for all of them on October 26.
The Indian Navy personnel who have been awarded death sentence include Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh.
