Espionage always comes with risks when things that ought to stay unrevealed are exposed, which may have been the case for the Indian submarine company, Dahra Global, after it was accused of espionage by Qatar.
Alleged Espionage
The submarine was shut down by Qatar due to many of its employees being accused of spying for Israel in August 2022. Reports say that 75 employees have been impacted, most of which were former Indian Navy officials, were asked to go home.
The affected workers will have until May 31st when they leave, with Qatar stating that it was their last day of work. Eight members, however, will not have the chance to go back, seeing as they will potentially be facing the death penalty, according to Interesting Engineering.
The eight officials who may receive capital punishment held senior positions in the company and be detained by the Middle Eastern country's intelligence agencies. Authorities claim that they have electronic evidence of the Indian officials' offense.
Beyond the given deadline, Dahra Global's Indian nationals will have to leave since their Qatari visas will soon expire. This means that it will be illegal for them to stay in the country's territory, making it dangerous for them.
Reports say that the names of the charged are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh.
India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi said that they are engaged with Qatari authorities and that their embassy in Doha stays in touch with the families of the affected. They are determining what can be done before the hearing.
Intelligence Passed On
An investigative journalist from The Print, Praveen Swami says that Qatar claims to have intercepted electronic communications, based on an anonymous Indian Intelligence as the media practitioner's source.
The evidence proves that the ex-Indian naval officers did spy on the Qatari submarine program, and then passed information along to Israel. Some argued that it could be tied to Qatar's deal with Italy, with the latter building midget submarines for the Qatari Emiri Navy.
Two small submarines are said to be built by the Italian boatyard, which according to Continental Defence, is part of a wider expansion and modernization program that the Qataru Emiri Navy is conducting.
In the same report, there's a question raising the involvement of New Delhi in the issue, whether it was a single-country operation or if intelligence agencies from other countries were involved. There have already been signs of unease before the news broke out.
Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal was sent back to New Delhi last month at a "serious juncture in the bilateral relationship." The same allegedly happened to Indian defense attache Captain Mohan Atla, who is no longer on the Indian Embassy Website.
The next hearing will be held on May 3rd, 2023, wherein the charges for the eight named officers for espionage will be disclosed. according to Globely News.
