Indian police clip wings of ‘spy pigeon’ to prevent its flight to Pakistan

The note, in Urdu, read “Modiji, we are not the same as we were in 1971 – Jaish-e-Mohammad”, police sources said.

Srinagar: The wings of a “spy pigeon” captured by Border Security Force (BSF) on October 2 have been clipped with the help of a veterinary worker to “ensure the suspected spy does not fly back to Pakistan”.

The pigeon was “arrested” on October 2 after a note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found tied to its foot when it landed at the Border Security Force’s Simbal post in Pathankot’s Bamial sector.

The note, in Urdu, read “Modiji, we are not the same as we were in 1971 – Jaish-e-Mohammad”, police sources said.
An inspector at Bamial police station said the wings were clipped last week with the help of a veterinary worker. “We didn’t want to take a chance. We also bought a cage for its stay,” he told the Telegraph newspaper.
The bird, which was taken to an animal husbandry hospital in Pathankot, has since been put in the cage and is being fed.
“We don’t know how long the pigeon will stay in the police station. Residents are flocking to the police station to see the intruder,” he said, adding the police weren’t even sure that the bird had come from across the border.
The pigeon’s arrest had come two days after the Intelligence Bureau had issued an alert to Punjab police over a possible backlash from across the border after the Indian Army’s September 29 “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control”.