Qatari Court Reduces Death Sentence of 8 Navy Veterans: Who Are the Officers, Training Specialists?

In a huge relief, a Qatari court commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel arrested in an alleged case of espionage in August 2022. The verdict comes as a diplomatic win for India, weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit.

“We have noted the verdict today of the Court of Appeal of Qatar in the Dahra Global case, in which the sentences have been reduced,” said the ministry of external affairs on Thursday.

The eight navy veterans — seven officers and one sailor — were working with Doha-based Al Dahra Global Technologies and were taken into custody in August 2022. While the charges against them were not made public by Qatari authorities, they were sentenced to death by Qatar’s Court of First Instance on October 26.

They were working with the Omani private defence consultancy, which provides training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies, to help oversee the induction of Italian U212 stealth submarines into the Qatari Emiri Naval Force.

India had moved the Court of Appeal in Qatar against the death sentence last month. “Our Ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal today, along with the family members. We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,” the ministry said.

While a detailed judgment is awaited, the ministry said it is in close touch with the legal team as well as the family members to decide on the next steps. “Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,” the ministry said.

Here is a look at who the eight men are:

1. CAPTAIN NAVTEJ GILL (RETD) Hailing from Chandigarh and the son of a retired army officer, Captain Gill was awarded the President’s Gold Medal for excellence when he graduated from the Naval Academy and later served as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu. According to a report published by The Indian Express, he was posted at INS Viraat as a navigating officer, which is considered a prized appointment. He has also commanded INS Prabal, an advanced missile corvette and the lead ship of the legendary ‘Killer’ squadron, which is well known for its role in bombing the Karachi port in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.
2. COMMANDER SUGUNAKAR PAKALA (RETD) An alumnus of Sainik school in Korukonda, Commander Pakala was an engineering officer in the navy. He holds the unique record of crossing the equator twice aboard INS Tarangini, a 500-tonne sailship, as per the IE report. Commander Pakala is also a decorated officer and, after his retirment, briefly worked at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd in Vishakhapatnam.
3. CAPTAIN SAURABH VASHISHT (RETD) Hailing from Dehradun, Captain Vashisht was an engineering officer in the navy and has studied at DSSC, Wellington, and the College of Defence Management at Secunderabad. He has served on INS Magar, INS Kulish, INS Khanjar and Indian Coast Guard Ship Sangram.
4. COMMANDER PURNENDU TIWARI (RETD) A navigation specialist, Commander Tiwari has commanded INS Magar and was the fleet navigating officer of the navy’s eastern fleet. He has also served on Rajput class destroyers. After retirement, he has been training defence personnel in Singapore and Qatar. He was the first ever armed forces veteran to receive the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award, presented by then president Ramnath Kovind in 2019.
5. CAPTAIN BK VERMA (RETD) Also a navigation specialist, Captain Verma has served aboard a Godavari class ship. He was also top of his class in the Staff College course.
6. COMMANDER AMIT NAGPAL (RETD) He was a communications specialist in the navy.
7. COMMANDER SK GUPTA (RETD) He specialised in gunnery before retiring from the navy.
8. RAGESH The only non-commissioned officer, he was a sailor in the navy.