VISAKHAPATNAM: A day after the Qatari court verdict awarding death penalty to eight Indian Navy Personnel, the family members of Commander Sugunakar Pakala are hoping for his safe return with the intervention of the Indian government, which has positive and friendly relations with Qatar.
The eight navy veterans, including Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, had been in judicial custody in the Gulf country since August 30, 2022. They were working for the AI Dahra company, when they were picked up by Qatar’s Ministry of Interior for questioning. However, the details have not been made public. Later, they were permitted to live on a twin-sharing basis.
Speaking to media here on Friday, K Kalyan Chakravarthy, brother in-law of Suganakar, alleged that the eight men were innocent and there is no evidence substantiating their custody. Stating that the kin had no clue about Sugunakar’s whereabouts even after 60 days of his custody and were informed about the death sentence by the Indian embassy on Thursday, Kalyan reportedly said that there is no truth that the eight men are involved in spying for Israel.
“The former Navy personnel dedicated their services to the nation with dignity and pride for decades. We hope that the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will yield positive results,” he said and added that the veterans are getting every possible support from the Indian Government.
According to Chakravarthy, 54-year-old Sugunakar retired in 2013 after serving 25 years in the Indian Navy. After retirement, he worked in Hindustan Shipyard Limited for two years, following which he shifted to Doha in 2018 for livelihood. He along with the other seven former Navy personnel had been working in AI Dahra company in Qatar.
“Earlier, on December 8, Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar assured that the eight former Navy personnel would be repatriated. We have no idea when Sugunakar will be back to India as it has been 14 months since he was taken into custody,” he said.
Stating that Sugunkar’s wife had visited Doha in July and was not informed about the reasons for the arrest, Chakravarthy said that family members made a strong plea to the Prime Minister to help in getting the former Navy men back to the country. He also urged the government to step up its efforts in this direction.