'Jaishankar called our wives and said...,' recalls Ragesh, one of ex-Navy personnel released by Qatar
Indian Express, Gopakumar said, "A day after we were awarded the capital punishment, Union Minister S Jaishankar called our wives to Delhi. He assured them we would be brought back home." Gopakumar even shared the details of the conversation between the wives of former Indian Navy men and the Union minister. He told the media house that told their wives that he was ready to plead for the release of the eight navy men.
"I will bring them back," Jaishankar had reportedly told the spouses. ALSO READ: India hopeful of ‘positive outcome’: MEA on appeal to free ex-navy men in Qatar Gopakumar, who served as a Petty Officer in the Navy, said he had retired in 2017 and later joined the Oman Defence training company as a communications instructor, news agency PTI reported. He resides in Balaramapuram, a suburb located over 16 km away from Kerala's capital city.
ALSO READ: Indian envoy met 8 former Navy officers on death row in Qatar, says MEA: 'India closely following case' He had said on Wednesday that they survived the prison days only due to their defence training. "We are just happy to be alive... happy to be home," a relieved Gopakumar told PTI.
"Prison and confinement is something terrible," he said, adding he and his colleagues survived only because of the training they underwent as Defence forces. Qatar had released eight former officers of the Indian navy after dropping their death sentences, the Ministry of External Affairs said on February 12, crediting the Qatari emir for the decision more than 18 months after the arrest challenged diplomatic ties. In December last year, Qatar’s Court of Appeal commuted the death sentences awarded to the men — Captains Navtej Gill and Saurabh Vasisht, Commanders Purnendu Tiwari, Amit
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