New Delhi, Oct 27: In a shocking case for India, eight former Indian Navy personnel were on Thursday handed down a death sentence by a court in Qatar as it vowed to explore all legal options in the case.
The eight former Indian Navy personnel, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year, reportedly in an alleged case of espionage.
Following their arrest, neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.
After the verdict was made on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that it attaches high importance to this case and is also exploring all legal options.
According to people familiar with the matter, said the eight former Navy personnel are Captain Saurabh Vashisht, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh,
In the statement released by MEA, it said, “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. ”
“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options,” it said.
The MEA said “it will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the Indians. We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities.”
