ISLAMABAD: India ‘registered’ a great ‘success’ on Thursday when it ‘nabbed’ a flying white pigeon in bordering city Amritsar and declared it was suspected to be on a ‘spying mission, Indian police said.
The pigeon is being kept in an air-conditioned room, which is being guarded by policemen. The doctor from the state animal husbandry department carried out a medical examination of the bird.
The ridiculous news item has been carried by an Indian wire service known for its ownership by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Indian authorities claimed that the pigeon carrying a Pakistani phone number and address on its body besides a rubber ring in its feet was found by border resident Harbans Lal Saini near his house and was brought to the police station in Ramdas, 40 kms from Amritsar. The police have yet to recover transmitter from the pigeon.
Ramdas Station House Officer (SHO) Jagjit Singh Chahal said that he had informed his superiors who directed that nobody should be allowed to go near the pigeon and an update would be passed to the SSP office at least thrice in day. Police suspected that the pigeon, which landed in Indian territory, might be on ‘special mission of spying’ and might have been pushed by Pakistan intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence.
Interestingly India is among the countries of the region that have spying satellite in the space. After the recent killing of two Pakistan-based people in a so-called gun-battle in Gurdaspur district, special instructions were issued to border inhabitants to report anything suspicious to the police, the SHO said.
Chahal said he had been asked by his seniors not to leave the police station or to proceed on leave until the fate of pigeon was decided. The number ‘303-6284620’ was written in red on the pigeon’s feathers along with a rubber stamp — Islamabad Wazirabad Pakistan.
Chahal said they suspected that the pigeon must have landed on Indian soil from Pakistan with a message, which had not been traced so far. The SHO said that Pakistani pigeon were easily recognizable, as they have a ‘different look.’
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29169