\NEW DELHI: A Qatari court has announced the death penalty for eight Indians arrested in the country last year on the charges of spying on the Gulf state’s submarine programme for Israel.

New Delhi said in a statement that it attaches “high importance to this case” and will “take up the verdict with Qatari authorities”.

Local media has reported that the eight men, who worked with a private company in Qatar, were arrested for spying in August 2022, but this news agency could not independently confirm the charges.

According to the Financial Times, a person briefed on the case confirmed to the publication that the eight Indians had been charged with spying for Israel.

Former naval officers found guilty of spying on Gulf state’s submarine programme

A spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Thursday’s government statement said that it would “not be appropriate to make any further comments at this stage” due to the “confidential nature of the proceedings”.

Indian foreign ministry officials, including Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, have earlier said that the exact nature of the charges against the eight Indian men is “not entirely clear”. More than 800,000 Indian citizens live and work in Qatar.

India said on Thursday that eight of its citizens had been sentenced to death by Qatar in a case that media reported involved high-ranking ex-naval officers accused of spying.

New Delhi said it would continue to “extend all consular and legal assistance” to the prisoners, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” the statement added.

Al Dahra is a Gulf-based company that offers “complete support solutions” to the aerospace, security and defence sectors, according to its website. There was no immediate confirmation from the Qatari authorities.

“Due to the confidential nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,” the ministry statement added, saying it was “exploring all legal options”.

However, several Indian media outlets reported that among those sentenced were ex-naval officers — including former captains and commanders — and that the men had been arrested in Doha in August 2022.

The Times of India, Hindustan Times and the Press Trust of India all reported that the men were arrested for an “alleged case of espionage”.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023