Usama Faiz
It was reported on 27th October 2022, that authorities in Qatar arrested eight retired officers of the Indian Navy, who were working for a private company in Doha. One of the arrested officers was Commander Purnendu Tiwari who was honoured with the “Pravasi Samman Award” – highest honour conferred on overseas Indians – by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind in 2019. The other officers in custody include Commander Navtej Singh Gill, Commander Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjay Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, Captain Saurab Vasisht and Ragesh Gopakumar. All these Indian naval officers were reported to be working for “Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services” – a private firm that provides training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies.
It is surprising that the news surfaced through a post shared on social media – urging the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri, including other officials to take concrete steps to bring the detained officials back to India. The post sent waves of uneasiness in Indian political realm that was unaware of activities of its retired officers in foreign countries. Later, the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi claimed at a press briefing that “We are aware of the detention of eight Indian nationals who we understand were working for a private company in Qatar or in that region. Our embassy there in Qatar has been in touch with Qatari authorities”. However, on the contrary, the government of India remained disavowed throughout the developments related to the apprehension of the retired Indian navy officers.
Taking a look at “Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services”, which labels itself as a private firm, it is noteworthy that no record of the organization and its related activities can be found on the internet. The organization’s website and its LinkedIn pages were taken down the moment the news appeared on the social media pages. It is also pertinent to mention that any such organization that reportedly provides training and other services to the recipient country’s armed forces, has and should have a crystal-clear record of its purpose and operations. However, this does not seem to be the case with Dahra.
It has also been reported that while working with Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies; the arrested Indian officers had access to classified data. Taking benefit of it, they were involved in sharing the data to Qatar’s adversaries. It is also worrisome where some reports suggest that Indian Navy officials were “spying for Israel” – a claim that is vindicated by the dubious presence of the organization and its functionaries. Moreover, arresting retired officers from their homes in the middle of the night without any prior notice, also questions the credibility of the organization and its members.
It is noteworthy that this is not the first case of Indian spies working at the official helm, who have been caught red-handed, leaving little doubt that these agents are active in quite substantial numbers. History is replete with incidents of Indian involvement in espionage and spying activities for their handlers. From Sarabjit Singh, Ravindra Kaushik to Daniel and many others; including the most prominent Kulbushan Jadav captured by Pakistan’s military in Pakistan, India has been actively participating in clandestine activities in foreign countries. The reason that India media is avoiding discussing the spying charges indicate Indian state-sponsored and state-funded espionage in the case. Indian intelligence agency RAW has been involved in supervising the alleged foreign operations to gain direct control of political ambitions and motives. Similarly, this time, India’s mischievous attempt of creating disturbance in Qatar, through its secret agents is something disgusting and loathsome.