NEW DELHI: It’s been three months since eight former naval officers were mysteriously detained in Doha. All of them were working for a firm called Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy and were reportedly engaged in conducting naval exercises.
The Indian government is aware but hasn’t made any official statement yet. “The officers were working with Dahra in Doha since the past five years. Sometime in August they were picked up from their homes in the middle of the night by the State Security Bureau, ministry of interior Qatar,’’ say sources.
These officers were involved in providing training to Qatari Navy. One of them was planning to come down to India to visit his family when they were taken away on the pretext of a week-long naval exercise. They became incommunicado since August 30.
“One consular access was granted on October 3 following which it came to be known that these officers were being kept under solitary confinement, as a result of which they were undergoing extreme mental harassment,’’ sources added.
The detained officers include Commander Purnendu Tiwari (awarded President’s medal), the managing director of the company. The others are Cdr Navtej Singh Gill, director (naval training), Cdr Birendra Kumar Verma, director of the Naval Academy, Cdr Sugunakar Pakala, director, FCN, Cdr Sanjeev Gupta, Cdr Amit Nagpal, Capt Saurab Vasisht and Ragesh Gopakumar.