NEW DELHI: Ex-Indian Navy Commander Purnendu Tiwary, who has been stranded in Doha, Qatar for the past ten months, has written to Indian officials—including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, and the Indian Ambassador to Qatar—detailing his ordeal.
In the letter, Tiwary describes being tortured by Qatari officials to the point of losing consciousness. He also reveals how, after being falsely accused of espionage, he was later charged with another offence. After two months of solitary confinement, he was coerced into signing statements and documents under duress, implicating him in a case involving the CEO of the now-defunct Dahra Global, Khamis al Azmi, and a Qatari national, Tariq, who were charged with money laundering and damaging government finances.
The letter, dated 1 December and accessed by The Sunday Guardian, gives a poignant account of the physical, mental, and psychological toll endured by the 65-year-old Tiwary, who has been separated from his family for over two and a half years. In the letter, he pleads for immediate repatriation to India, stating that he is no longer able to endure further hardships, highlighting his fragile mental state.
Tiwary, a winner of the President’s NRI award and someone who had a distinguished record spanning 44 years in the Indian Navy and the commercial sector, has mentioned how he was tortured by the Qatari officials while being in detention. “I was physically tortured during solitary confinement, and I lost consciousness on several occasions due to the ill-treatment.”
Later, despite the Emir of Qatar granting a pardon to all the eight who were detained in the case, Tiwary was left behind while the others were repatriated in February.
Tiwary has then stated how the Qatari authorities then implicated him in a financial misconduct case linked to the CEO of the company he worked for. Tiwary insists the CEO, an Omani national, was solely responsible for the company’s financial matters. As managing director, Tiwary claims his role was limited to overseeing operations, with no involvement in the company’s financial dealings. Tiwary alleges he was forced to sign statements under duress during his time in solitary confinement. “I was coerced into signing documents under duress, despite my transactions being transparent, conducted through banks, and audited by Qatari authorities,” he wrote.
Tiwary, who is grappling with hypertension, diabetes, and requires a hernia operation, which has been delayed due to his circumstances, is facing additional mental stress due to the condition of his 86-year-old mother in India, who is desperate to see him back home.
While the Qatari officials have frozen the bank accounts of Tiwary, the CEO is permitted to withdraw money from his account and he has only been called thrice for questioning.
The letter has also questioned the MEA for allegedly agreeing to Tiwary’s continued stay in Qatar under a travel ban. Tiwary has also pointed to what he describes as a “false narrative” circulated within the MEA, claiming he is content in Qatar with his fiancée—a claim he vehemently denies.
According to Tiwary, since he was the most senior member of the group of detained veterans, and as the managing director of the company, he was deliberately targeted. “Qatari authorities are not happy that all eight were let off, and they are desperate to implicate me further,” he alleges.
“I have undergone pain, suffering, and hardships for the last two and a half years. I am not in a position to take any more,” he writes, urging the Indian authorities to intervene with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the case escalates further. It is understood that the case, which is still under investigation, if it goes to court, then Tiwary’s return to India will be delayed even more.