A “spy” pigeon sent from Pakistan has been captured in India.
The bird was caught in the village of Manyari – which is on the border separating Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir – and the animal was said to be carrying a “coded message”.
According to local reports, security officials are still trying to decipher the message.
Kathua Police superintendent Shailendra Mishra revealed that villagers gave the pigeon to police after it flew into a woman’s house.
He explained: “A ring was seen attached to one of its legs with some numbers on it and a probe is on. We can’t say it was used for spying. Locals, seeing a tag tied with its legs, caught the pigeon. Some called it a coded message. In Pakistan’s Punjab, people tie number tags on pigeons to claim ownership.”
Security agencies are trying to decipher the message, the officials told Indian news agency PTI.
Kathua Police’s senior superintendent Shailendra Mishra said the villagers gave the pigeon to police on Sunday after it flew into a woman’s house from Pakistan.
According to Sky News, this is not the first time a bird has been used for espionage. In 2016, police in Pathankot, in India’s Punjab state, took in a bird that was found near the Pakistan border which had a note attached to it with an alleged threat to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The year before, a bird was seized a few miles from the border after being spotted carrying a “stamped message” on its body, according to local reports.