Pigeon 007? Bird With Pak Stamp Seized, Checked for Spy Camera

Pathankot:  A pigeon that flew into a village near the border with Pakistan has been detained, said the police in Pathankot in Punjab, on suspicion that the bird was being used for espionage.

Police said they had X-rayed the bird to see whether it was carrying anything suspicious after a villager spotted a stamp under its feathers that bore Urdu script and the name of a Pakistani district.

“We sent the bird to a polyclinic where X-ray scans were done to see if there is any spy camera, transmitter or hidden chip,” said senior police superintendent Rakesh Kaushal. “Till now there is no evidence to suggest it is a spy bird but so long as we are not able to decipher what is written in Urdu, we cannot be absolutely sure.”

Mr Kaushal said police had alerted intelligence services over the discovery of the pigeon.

It is not the first time birds have become embroiled in the cross-border tension.

In 2013, Indian security forces found a dead falcon fitted with a small camera, and in 2010 another pigeon was detained over espionage fears.