Qatar court admits India's appeal against death penalty to 8 ex-Navy personnel: Media reports
New Delhi, Nov 24: A Qatari court has admitted the Indian government's appeal against the death penalty handed down to eight former Indian Navy personnel in that country, according to media reports, even as there was no official word from the Ministry of External Affairs here on Friday.
The Qatari court on Thursday admitted the appeal filed by the Indian government and the next hearing is to be held soon, the reports said.
Last week, India said the appeal process against the death sentence given to the eight former Indian Navy personnel by a Qatari court is under process and it was hopeful of a positive outcome from it.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said India is engaged with the Qatari authorities on the matter and the government will continue to extend all legal and consular assistance to the Indian nationals.
The eight Indians were on October 26 given the death sentence by Qatar's Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.
Days later, an appeal was filed against the death sentence.
The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage.
Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.
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Five held for MDMA, ganja trafficking in Bengaluru; drugs worth over Rs 5 cr seized
Bengaluru (PTI): Five persons were arrested for allegedly trafficking the banned narcotic substance MDMA and ganja in different parts of the city, police said on Tuesday.
Police said they seized 3.912 kg of ganja, 343 grams of MDMA and 170 grams of other narcotic substances, along with a goods vehicle and a mobile phone, totaling worth Rs 5.77 cr.
The Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch, along with local police, carried out the operation here recently, police said.
The arrests were made on different dates following raids based on credible inputs.
According to police, ganja was being transported near Nayandahalli signal on Mysuru Road. The MDMA and ganja were stored and sold from a lodge in R K Puram and Channasandra Main Road.
Cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, police said.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to procuring the drugs at lower prices from an unidentified foreign national and other sources within the state, and selling them to the public, including college students, for profit, a senior police officer said.
Efforts are on to trace the suppliers, police said.
The accused have been remanded to judicial custody, and further investigation is underway, they added.
