NEW DELHI — At a time when ties with neighbour Pakistan are at their lowest ebb, India has spotted “spy” pigeons and balloons with notes threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi that apparently crossed into its territory from the rival nation.
A pigeon carrying a warning for Modi was detained near the tense border of the nuclear-armed nations in the Pathankot area of northern Punjab state — the same region where a group of terrorists, who India says came from Pakistan, struck an Indian Air Force station in January this year leaving seven soldiers dead.
“The Border Security Force [BSF] personnel captured the pigeon on Sunday morning after they found a note wrapped in a small plastic sheet tied to one of its feet,” Ramesh Kumar, a police officer in Pathankot, told the Nikkei Asian Review.
The note had a warning written in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, and was addressed to Modi stating: “Each and every child of Pakistan is ready to fight [against India] … We are not the same as we were in 1971 [when the two countries fought their third major war leading to Pakistan’s defeat],” according to Kumar.
He said the message was signed “Lashkar-e-Taiba,” a Pakistan-based terrorist group blamed for numerous attacks in India, including the November 2008 Mumbai strikes that killed 166 people.
“We are investigating the matter,” Kumar said, adding the gray-coloured avian was handed over to police by the BSF. “It is still in our custody, and will be set free once senior officers ask us to do so,” he said on Tuesday.
“The bird is currently kept in a cage,” he said, adding they have no intention of detaining it for long.
Along the border areas, he noted, it is not unusual to spot pigeons with Urdu inscription on their wings or notes tied to parts of their bodies.
On Sept. 22, a white pigeon was also found in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur region with names of days of the week written on its feathers in Urdu, along with a Pakistani phone number, triggering fear among locals that it could be a spy.
“We had an X-ray of the bird performed at a local veterinary hospital to ensure that no chip or device is inserted inside its body. We found nothing suspicious,” Jaswinderpal Singh, a Hoshiarpur police officer, told the Nikkei Asian Review when asked about the current status of the white pigeon. “Army and intelligence officers were also informed about the bird.”
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