A Tech Mahindra employee detained in Qatar poses another diplomatic challenge for New Delhi

Qatar has arrested another Indian national, a move that may lead to another diplomatic challenge for the Narendra Modi administration. Amit Gupta, a resident of Vadodara, Gujarat, has been detained in Qatar. His parents have alleged that their son has been detained since January 1 without any official charges. According to a report, the Indian mission in Qatar is aware of Gupta’s arrest and is providing all kinds of assistance.Who is Amit Gupta?

Amit Gupta is a senior employee of Tech Mahindra. He married Akanksha Gupta, after which he settled in Qatar in August 2013. According to his LinkedIn profile, Tech Mahindra appointed him the regional head for Qatar and Kuwait in April 2022.
With an MBA in Marketing from International Management Institute in 2005, Gupta has been with the Mumbai-based software major for nearly 12 years now.  Amit’s father Jagdish, a resident of Tarasali in Gujarat, is a retired chief engineer of ONGC.
Why was he arrested?

According to the father, Qatar’s state security detained Gupta at a Doha restaurant and sent him to solitary confinement. The exact details of the charges have not been revealed, but media reports have linked Gupta’s arrest with the investigation in a case of data theft.
Amit Gupta’s mother claims that her son was kept without food for 48 hours and then shifted to a room, where he has been for three months.”Nothing is known about the reason yet. Somebody in the company must have done some problem, because he is the country manager, that’s why he has been arrested,” she told a news agency. Gupta is allowed one call every Wednesday for five minutes.

India’s diplomatic test

On Saturday, Gupta’s father met Hemang Joshi, the member of Parliament from Vadodara, and sought his support for the release of his son. Joshi has assured help in every way.

His father said that after eating in a restaurant, Amit was arrested by the security agency and sent to solitary confinement. Amit’s parents went to Qatar after the arrest and stayed there for a month. One day they were allowed to meet for only half an hour.

Gupta’s detention is the second high-profile case involving an Indian citizen in Qatar in the last couple of years. In 2022, Qatar arrested eight officers of the Indian Navy in a case of alleged espionage. In 2023, they were sentenced to death. They were released, subsequently in 2024, after diplomatic efforts from India.

Joshi has said that he will raise this matter in Delhi. Qatar has not given the reason for Amit Gupta’s arrest nor has any case been started against him yet. If Gupta is convicted in the data theft case, he may be sent to jail and made to pay a fine as per Qatar’s law, which has elements of the Sharia principles