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Just an innocent bird - India returns Pakistan's suspected spy bird

WION Web Team
Srinagar, IndiaUpdated: May 30, 2020, 09:23 AM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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He claimed that the number on the ring was his phone number from the time when his bird had participated in a pigeon racing contest.

Indian police, on Friday, released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after the officials made sure that the bird, that flew across the contentious border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy.

“The pigeon was set free yesterday (May 28) after nothing suspicious was found,” said Shailendra Mishra, a senior police official in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Suspicions were raised by villagers after the bird flew in Indian territory. The villagers handed over the bird to Indian Police. Some numbers were inscribed on a ring on the pigeon’s leg, which the Indian Police, before investigation, suspected were codes meant for militant groups operating in the disputed region of Kashmir.

However, Habibullah, the owner of the pigeon, dismissed the assumption and claimed that the pigeon is "just an innocent bird."

He claimed that the number on the ring was his phone number from the time when his bird had participated in a pigeon racing contest.

“We had to take the bird into our custody to probe if it was being using for spying,” a senior Indian border security officer said requesting anonymity, while explaining this was part of the drill given border sensitivities.

(With inputs from Reuters)