Much to the disbelief of the international community, a pigeon is spending life behind bars.
The intrepid bird has been accused by India of being a spy for Pakistan. This isn’t the first time India has accused it’s neighbour of using pigeons for espionage.
The allegation was made after a resident of the Kathua district of Indian-administered Kashmir, reported a bird after it flew into her home on Sunday night.
Geeta Devi, said it was painted pink and carrying a coded ring tagged to its foot.
The Indian Border Security Force then passed the pigeon on to the police, who launched an investigation, x-rayed it and logged the animal as a ‘Pak Suspected Spy.’
Officials in Kathua said the bird had flown across the border and they would try to decipher the message.
“The pigeon, suspected to have been trained in Pakistan for spying, has a ring with alphabets and numbers written on it,” a police source told the Times of India.
“Though birds have no boundaries and many fly across international borders during migration, a coded ring tagged to the captured pigeon’s body is a cause for concern as migratory birds don’t have such rings.”
According to the police in Kathua, birds are commonly used to send secret messages across the border as they do not typically arouse suspicion.
However, he added the latest suspect would remain in a cage in a police station until the conclusion of the investigation.
