Qatar has released former Indian Navy personnel who were sentenced to death, which was later commuted to imprisonment after an intervention by the country’s ruler, Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Seven out of the eight men, who were accused of allegedly spying for Israel, returned to India on Monday morning. Commander Purnendu Tiwari, who had his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment, was the only individual to have not arrived. Official sources said he, too, had been released and that his return had been delayed because some legal formalities were yet to be completed. He also has family in Qatar.
Thanking the emir and Qatar govt, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said PM Modi had personally supervised developments in the case and never shied away from any initiative that could have led to the release of the veterans.
The seven who returned are Captains Navtej Gill and Saurabh Vasisht, Amit Nagpal, S K Gupta, B K Verma and Sugunakar Pakala and sailor Ragesh.
“I feel delighted to finally be back in India safe and sound. I wish to thank PM Modi because this would not have been possible had it not been for his personal intervention. I also wish to express my gratitude to the emir of Qatar,” Gill said.