NEW DELHI: For three months Qatar has detained eight former Indian navy officers, and New Delhi says it is trying to get them released, reports said on Saturday.

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,” the report said.

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,’’ it said.

These officers were involved in providing training to the Qatari Navy. One of them was planning to come down to India to visit his family when they were taken away on the pretext of a week-long naval exercise. They became incommunicado on Aug 30, the paper said.

Eight personnel have been in custody for months over ‘undeclared charges’, says report

“One consular access was granted on October 3 following which it came to be known that these officers were being kept under solitary confinement, as a result of which they were undergoing extreme mental harassment,’’ sources told the paper.

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.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thurs­d­ay the Indian embassy in Doha was making all possible efforts for the early release and repatriation of the officers from Qatar, days after it emerged that they have been detained there. 

When asked about the reported detention of the former navy officers at a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We are aware of the detention of eight Indian nationals who we understand were working for a private company in Qatar.”

He said the Indian Embassy in Qatar has been in touch with Qatari authorities and mission officials have gotten consular access to the detained Indians and ascertained their wellbeing. 

“The detained persons have also spoken to their family members on a few occasions. We have requested another round of consular access and we are following up with Qatari authorities on this,” he said. 

“Our embassy and ministry are in touch with the families. Our embassy there is making all possible efforts for the early release and repatriation of the detained Indian nationals,” Mr Bagchi said. 

While the MEA confirmed their detention on Thursday, there was no information on the charges against these former officials, reports said. 

The former Navy officers worked for a company called Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services.

The company describes itself as a “local business partner” of the Qatar defence, security and other government agencies, and its key competencies as defence equipment operation and maintenance. The group’s CEO, Khamis Al Ajmi, is a retired Squadron Leader of the Royal Oman Air Force.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2022