Purnendu Tiwari is showing signs of mental distress.
The senior-most Indian Navy veteran among the eight Indian veterans who were detained in Qatar, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, has not come back to India even as more than one month has passed of the rest seven being released on 12 February.
The 64-year-old Tiwari, who was the managing director of the now defunct Dahra Global, was released from prison on 12 February, but was told that a travel ban was imposed on him and hence he was not allowed to come back to Delhi like his other seven colleagues. He is right now putting up at his home in Doha, with no clarity being offered on when he will be allowed to come back and join his family, whom he had last met in August 2022 before he was arrested by the Qatari officials on charges that were never made public.
India’s Ambassador to Qatar, Vipul, a 1998 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who goes by a single name, did not respond to The Sunday Guardian’s queries on when Tiwari is expected to be sent back. Vipul had last year in June replaced his batchmate Deepak Mittal as the Indian Ambassador to Qatar.
Friends and close associates of Tiwari told The Sunday Guardian that this peculiar situation was taking a toll on their family members, especially his 85-year-old mother, as they are not getting any clear answer from the concerned officials on when he will come back.
“The Emir of Qatar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped us and the seven other families by ensuring that the eight Indians were released and we are eternally indebted to them for this. However, Purnendu is still not here in India, and with every passing day, our anxiety is increasing as there is no clarity on when he will come back. We are clueless on what is happening,” a family friend of the former naval officer told The Sunday Guardian.
The family members and friends also expressed concern on the mental trauma and stress that Tiwari has experienced due to the adverse situation that he has been in for the past 19 months, without being in a family atmosphere. He was showing signs of mental distress that has been attributed by experts to his detention in a foreign land that has likely been exacerbated due to his age. Travel ban is a part of the legal system in Qatar, just like in India and even for a minor offence like not paying credit card bill, a travel ban can be imposed.
Official sources in Delhi said that Tiwari was not allowed to come back along with the seven of his colleagues as being a managing director he was the senior-most official of Dahra and was the signing authority in many contracts which the Qatari government was looking into. According to them it was a “matter of time” when he would be sent back by Qatari officials and it would be incorrect to presume that he has been “forgotten” amidst the euphoria that was generated in the country on 12 February.