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Indian police detain pigeon as 'suspected spy' from Pakistan

The feathers of the pigeon found in India's Punjab province were found to be stamped with writing in Urdu, Pakistan's official language, and a Pakistani phone number.

By Ben Hooper
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BAMIYAL, India, May 29 (UPI) -- Indian police said they have detained a pigeon suspected of being a Pakistani spy after it was found to have a message stamped on its body.

Punjab police said a 14-year-old boy in Manwal, a village close to the Pakistani border, brought the pigeon to a police station when he noticed it bore a stamped message on its wing feathers written in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, and a Pakistani phone number.

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The pigeon's feathers also reportedly bore the seal of a Pakistani district in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Officers at the Bamiyal police post dubbed the bird a "suspected spy" in a diary report.

Police Superintendent Rakesh Kaushal said police conducted an X-ray of the white pigeon.

"Nothing adverse has been found, but we have kept the bird in our custody," Kaushal told The Times of India. "This is a rare instance of a bird from Pakistan being spotted here. We have caught a few spies here. The area is sensitive, given its proximity to Jammu, where infiltration is quite common."

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