Last month, a high-ranking Indian official allegedly travelled to Qatar to request their release. Recently, Qatari media claimed that eight former Indian Navy officers had been detained in Qatar on suspicion of espionage for Israel. The story claims that last month, in an effort to free the eight military officers, a senior official from India was dispatched to the Qatari capital of Doha.
According to reports, the individuals detained were employed by a private organisation that educates Qatari Navy personnel. Indian media claimed earlier on Sunday that the nation’s embassy in Doha was making ‘all conceivable measures’ to free the former officers who had been ‘mysteriously imprisoned’ about three months prior. The spokeswoman for the Indian Foreign Ministry, Arindam Bagchi, told reporters: ‘We are aware of the imprisonment of eight Indian nationals who, as we understand it, were working for a private firm in Qatar’.
All of them, according to the New Indian Express, were employed by a company named Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy. Commander Purnendu Tiwari, the company’s managing director, is thought to be one among those arrested. They allegedly spent the last five years living in Doha and working as trainers for the Qatari Navy. According to the report, they haven’t spoken to anybody since the State Security Bureau of Qatar detained them in the middle of the night at their houses.
On October 3, the arrested officials were allowed one consular visit, during which it was discovered that they had been subjected to ‘severe mental harassment’ and had been placed in solitary confinement. The detained officers had ‘talked to their family members on a few occasions,’ Bagchi said, adding that ‘we have sought another round of consular access and we are following up with Qatari authorities on this’.
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