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New Delhi: As a Qatari court on Thursday sentenced eight former Indian Navy personnel to death, India said it was extremely “shocked” by the decision and was considering all legal options in the matter. All eight Indian nationals are employees of Al Dahra Company who were detained in an alleged espionage case last year.
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The charges leveled against the Indians by the Qatari authorities have not been made public. In response, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was giving the matter ‘significance’ and was exploring all legal options. According to people familiar with the matter, the former Indian Navy personnel include Captain Saurabh Vashishth, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Seaman Ragesh.
He said all the ex-naval officers had an “unblemished tenure” of 20 years in the Indian Navy and had served in important positions in the force, including as instructors. The Ministry of External Affairs said that it had initially received information that a Qatari court had today delivered its verdict in a case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra Company.
“We are extremely shocked by the death sentence and await the full details of the decision,” the ministry said. We are in touch with family members and the legal team. We are considering all legal options.
The Ministry of External Affairs said it would continue to provide all diplomatic advice and legal assistance to Indians. “We attach great importance to this matter and are following it closely,” the ministry said in a statement. We will continue to provide all forms of diplomatic and legal assistance. We will take a decision with the Qatari authorities.
The statement said that due to the confidential nature of the proceedings in this case, no further comment would be appropriate at this time. The Indian ambassador to Qatar met the Indians in this jail on October 1 after gaining diplomatic access. Sources said that Indians had been training Qatari marines for the past few years under Al Dahra Security Company. He said that Al Dahra Security Company has made some arrangements with the Qatari authorities to facilitate the training of Qatari marines.
(This news is not edited by the NDTV team. It is published directly from the syndicate feed.)