Fact Check: Did Qatar Intelligence Arrest Two Indians for Spying for Mossad?

On September 9, 2025, Israel carried out an airstrike in Doha targeting a Hamas leadership compound in the Leqtaifiya district while Hamas negotiators were reviewing a proposed ceasefire mediated by Qatar and the U.S. The precision strike killed at least six people including Humam al-Hayya (son of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya) and a Qatari security officer and wounded others. Hamas says its leadership survived. Qatar condemned the attack as a violation of its sovereignty, and international actors from the UN to regional neighbors expressed outrage.

In response, India also voiced strong concern, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to condemn the strike as a violation of the sovereignty of a brotherly state of Qatar, urged restraint and diplomacy, affirmed India’s support for peace and stability in the region, and backed Qatar’s mediation efforts in Gaza and the release of all hostages.

Meanwhile, social media accounts claim that Qatari intelligence has arrested two Indians in Doha for spying for Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency). The post was shared after heightened tensions in West Asia and drew significant engagement.

Factcheck:

The claim is misleading. There is no credible evidence that two Indian nationals were recently arrested in Qatar for spying on behalf of Mossad.

We reviewed the viral post and found that it simply asserts the arrest but provides no source, no official confirmation, or supporting evidence. We ran a keyword search using Indians arrested + Qatar Intel and found no recent report on the matter. Leading agencies such as Al Jazeera, Reuters, Associated Press, BBC, and The Hindu were checked. None reported any such arrests in Doha.

On further search we found an Al Jazeera report from February 2024, stating Qatar released former Indian Navy Officers after dropping death sentences. Eight Indian Navy officers were sentenced to death in Qatar on charges of spying for Israel in August 2022. This case has no connection with the recent Israeli attack in Doha.

In January 2025, Qatari authorities detained another Indian citizen, though no official charges have been disclosed so far. According to a report by The Indian Express, the Indian Embassy in Doha and the Ministry of External Affairs are engaged with Qatari authorities and Gupta’s legal representatives. His family, based in Vadodara, insists he has been falsely accused.

We browsed Qatar’s government and local state media and found they have not issued any statement regarding the latest development

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has also not reported any such arrests.

The viral post claiming that Qatar arrested two Indians for spying for Mossad is misleading. No official or reliable media outlet has confirmed such an incident.