extended custody
The Government of India is giving priority to the matter but Qatar is dealing with it differently. In the same month, a court in Doha extended the imprisonment of these officials for one more month. Ever since these officers were jailed on 30 August 2022, their detention is extended for the next month at the beginning of every month. Why these officers have been kept in custody, no information has been given publicly about this. This whole issue is a big test of Indian diplomacy.
Oman official released
Eight retired Indian Navy officers Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vashist, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birender Kumar Verma, Commander Shugunkar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Admiral Ragesh worked for Dhara Global Technologies and Consultancy Services . It is a defense company owned by a citizen of Oman. This civilian retired as a Squadron Leader in the Royal Omani Air Force. This Omani official was also arrested but was released in November.
new website ready
The website of the company is no longer accessible. The website was shut down as soon as this news came to light on 28 October. As per the information available on this website, Dhara was providing training, logistics and maintenance services. These services were being provided by the Qatar Navy. A new website was created and it was known as Dhahara Global. There was no mention of the Qatar Navy on this website. Nor was anything mentioned about the seven executives who were given leadership roles in the company. Commander Purnendu Tiwari was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in the year 2019. He was given this award for furthering the bilateral relations between India and Qatar. He is the only person from the forces of India who was given this honor.
given consular access
These eight officers were arrested by Qatar’s Intelligence Agency in August. But the Indian Embassy came to know about it in the middle of September. On September 30, these retired officers got a chance to talk to the family on the telephone for some time. Got the first consular access on October 3 and an official from the Indian Embassy met him. The second consular access was granted in December. Qatar says that these officers were spying on it at the behest of Israel. While India has categorically denied this. As of now, only speculations are being made about when these officers will return to the country.