Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood celebrity, has denied any participation in the release of eight Indian Navy veterans who were being jailed in Qatar on suspicion of espionage. Former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy had already asserted that the celebrity was instrumental in convincing the Qatari authorities to free the detainees.
“Modi should take Cinema star Sharuk Khan to Qatar with him since after MEA and NSA had failed to persuade the Shiekhs of Qatar, Modi pleaded with Khan to intervene and thus got an expensive settlement from the Qatar Shiekhs to free our Naval officers (sic),” Swamy said in response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message on X.
In a response, Khan’s team refuted the allegations made by the former BJP leader. “Regarding the reports concerning Shah Rukh Khan’s purported role in the release of India’s naval officers from Qatar, the office of Mr Shah Rukh Khan says that any such assertions of his involvement are unfounded, emphasizing the execution of this successful resolution solely rests with the Indian government officials and unequivocally denies Mr Khan’s participation in this matter (sic),” Pooja Dadlani, the manager of the actor, posted on Twitter.
The Dilwale actor was the subject of rumors about his involvement in the leak while he was recently in Qatar as an AFC Final special guest. Rumors were further stoked by images of the actor being met by Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar.
The Ministry of External Affairs verified in a statement released on Monday that seven of the eight former members of the Indian Navy have returned to India from Qatar in response to the allegations. The Navy veterans were imprisoned after being captured in August 2022 on espionage allegations. The Qatari government had claimed that the veterans had been spying on a submarine.
Did SRK assist in the espionage charges-related release of Indian navy officers in Qatar?
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