New Delhi: After eight Indian Navy veterans were sentenced to death by a Qatari court Thursday, questions remain on what charges they face and whether the company in which they were employed played a role in the case.
All eight former servicemen were employed by defence services provider Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, which imparted training and related services to Qatar’s armed forces. Though the private firm is headquartered in Oman, the retired officers were working out of Doha, Qatar.
The company’s Qatar branch reportedly closed down this summer as the case made headlines. Reports say 75 Indian employees, most of whom were former Indian Navy personnel, were informed that their last day at the firm was 31 May, 2023. The firm’s website was also taken down, but has reappeared with some changes.
Dahra Global CEO Khamis Al-Ajmi, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Oman Air Force, was briefly detained last year but later released.
The eight Indian veterans — Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh — were picked up by Qatari intelligence authorities in August 2022 and incarcerated in Doha.
Legal proceedings against the eight began on 29 March. Seven hearings were held and several bail requests were denied, before the release of the verdict Thursday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it will be “exploring all legal options” in the case, adding that it was shocked by the verdict. The MEA spokesperson had last week said charges were presented as part of the hearings but did not specify what they were.
ThePrint previously reported, based on intelligence sources, that the former servicemen have been accused of espionage.
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New Dahra Global website, with changes
After the arrest of the eight Navy veterans last August, the website of Dahra Global was taken down and was “under maintenance”. The company now has a new website, that went live earlier this year, that does not mention that it provides services to the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces.
According to the new website, the company provides services to “Gulf” countries across the sectors of aerospace, security, defence, information technology & communications.
“We support the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and beyond with customised support and turnkey solutions; offering systems, equipment, spare-parts and repair services to a broad range of customers,” it states.
In 2015, the company, according to its website, hosted the ‘Oman National Security Conference’, supported by the UK Department of Trade & Industry.
The company also provides training through simulators of aircraft, marine damage control simulators, search and rescue training, field combat sniper and marksmanship, etc.
In May, however, Doha News reported that Dahra Global had ceased all operations in Qatar and about 75 Indian nationals, employed by the firm, were informed that their last day of employment at Dahra was on 31 May and that they must leave Qatar as their visas had expired.
“According to the terms of their contract, a severance package will be paid to them,” the report said.
ThePrint emailed the company to confirm if it had ceased operations in Qatar, as reported by the local media, but did not receive a reply.
According to Maj. Gen. Satbir Singh (retd.), chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement who claims he wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office and the MEA nine times regarding the case, the former Indian Navy servicemen could have been sent to Qatar as part of an MoU signed between the two countries.
A letter sent from the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement to the Indian authorities on 28 November, 2022, states: “MoU was signed between the two countries whereby ex-Indian naval officers are being employed with Qatar Navy.”
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told ThePrint that the former Navy servicemen were “not part of any MoU”.
ThePrint has not been able to independently verify if such an MoU exists.
Training is an important part of the defence cooperation between India and Qatar. India offers training slots in its defence institutions to Qatar and regularly participates in the biennial Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference in the Gulf nation, according to the Indian embassy in Doha.
“These eight men — save for one who is a sailor — were working for four-six years at Dahra Global before they were arrested. Clearly, they were established in this field and were imparting training to the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces. Having been in close contact with the families, I helped arrange for one of the men to attend his daughter’s wedding in January 2023 over Zoom,” Bagchi told ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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