Retired Indian Navy Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Burnendu Tiwari, Commander Sukunagar Bagala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Navy veteran Rakesh were working at Tahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services in Qatar. The company provides training and related services to the Qatar Armed Forces.

The company is owned by a retired Royal Omani Air Force man from Oman. In this situation, the eight Indians who worked for this company were accused of providing information about Qatar’s state-of-the-art submarine to Israel. It is said that the submarine has been built in a modern way so that it cannot be detected by enemy countries if it goes into fresh water.

The Qatari intelligence agency arrested them and the owner of the company in August last year on the allegation that the eight Indians had spied and told Israel about the submarine with such a feature. Subsequently, the owner of the company was released in November of last year.

But the Qatari authorities, who rejected the Indians’ bail plea several times, continued to extend their detention. They were subsequently kept in solitary confinement. The Government of India came to know about this and provided legal assistance to bring back the eight Indians. In this context, the Qatari court has sentenced all eight ex-Indian marines to death in this case.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is shocking that eight Indians imprisoned in Qatar have been sentenced to death. He added, “We are waiting for a detailed verdict. We are in touch with the families and legal teams of the eight people. We will provide them with all necessary legal assistance in this case. Consular assistance is also available to them. We will also consult with the Qatari authorities about this decision.