Senior Tech Mahindra employee detained in Qatar since January this year

A senior employee working for Tech Mahindra has been detained in Doha by the Qatari State Security since January this year for potential data theft charges.

Amit Gupta, region head of Qatar and Kuwait for Tech Mahindra, hails from Vadodara in Gujarat and had gone to Qatar in 2013.

However, the charges against him have not yet been officially released.

According to media reports citing his family member, the Indian Embassy in Doha is providing all “possible assistance” to Gupta.

“Mission has been in touch with the family, the lawyer representing Gupta and Qatari Authorities regularly. Our Embassy continues to provide all possible assistance in the matter and is closely following the case,” said a person familiar with the matter.

The IT services company on March 23 also said it is in close contact with his family.

"We remain in close contact with the family, providing necessary support to them. We are also actively coordinating with authorities in both countries and adhering to the due process. Ensuring the wellbeing of our colleague is our top priority," a Tech Mahindra spokesperson was quoted as saying by NDTV.

"Amit Gupta was detained on January 1 and held for 48 hours without food or water. After that, he was locked in a room, and it has now been three months that he has been held in Doha. The reason for his detention is still unknown," Gupta's mother, Pushpa Gupta, told the news agency IANS.

"Somebody in the company may have done something wrong and since he is the country manager, he has been detained," she added.

Reportedly, Gupta’s wife has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), while his father Jagdish Gupta has reached out to Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, for assistance in the case.

Gupta’s family maintains he has been falsely accused of data theft. They have also reached out to the Member of Parliament from Vadodara Hemang Joshi, who has promised to assist them.

His mother is also said to have traveled to Qatar and met with the Indian ambassador there, but there has been no “positive” response yet.

This is not the first instance where Indians have been detained in Qatar.

In August 2022, eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services were detained in Qatar on espionage charges.

All eight were accused of spying on Doha’s program to acquire high-tech Italian-made submarines.

In February 2024, they were pardoned by the Qatari Amir, after which seven of them returned to India.