According to the Indian government, eight Indian naval officers who had been given the death penalty after being accused of espionage have been freed from Qatar. As per the statement released by the foreign ministry on Monday morning, seven of the eight Indian officers had already left for home. The statement read, “The release of eight Indian nationals who were detained in Qatar while working for the Dahra Global company is welcomed by the government of India.”

“Of the eight, seven have gone back to India. We are grateful that the Amir of the State of Qatar allowed these citizens to be released and return home. Eight Indian officers were found guilty of espionage in August 2022 and given the death penalty in October of the same year.

The released naval officers expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for their “personal intervention”. “We are happy that we have returned to India safe and sound,” one of the freedmen told the Indian news agency. We want to express our gratitude to the Amir of Qatar for enabling this and to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his direct intervention in making this possible.

“We wouldn’t be standing in front of you if it weren’t for the intervention at the highest level and the relentless efforts of the government of India,” stated an additional person who was quoted.

The eight men were named Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Rajesh. The men worked for a consulting firm called Al Dahra, which counsels Qatar’s government on purchasing submarines. India had previously declared that it was “deeply shocked” to learn of the death sentences and that it would discuss the decision with the authorities in Qatar.