A Pakistani villager has asked India to return his pigeon after the bird was taken into custody and accused of spying.
The man, identified as Habibullah by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, said he flew his pigeons to celebrate the Eid festival.
“Yes, this is my pet pigeon, as it can never be a spy or a terrorist,” he said.
Indian news outlets reported Monday that a pigeon with a pink patch and a tag on its leg was in custody and was suspected of being a Pakistani spy.
An investigation was launched into the matter.
“We don’t know where the bird has come from. Locals on our side captured it near our fence. We have found a ring tagged to its foot on which some numbers are written,” Shailendra Kumar Misra, senior superintendent of police in Kathua, told the Times of India.
An unnamed police source told the publication that the pigeon is “suspected to be trained in Pakistan for spying, has a ring with alphabets and numbers written on it.”
Habibullah said he owns a dozen pigeons and put rings around their feet inscribed with his phone number. He said his bird was a “symbol of peace, love, and tolerance” and that India should “refrain from victimizing innocent birds.”
The bird was captured in Kashmir, a region claimed by both India and Pakistan and where regular military exchanges have occurred between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
In May 2015, a white pigeon with an illegible Urdu message written on its wings and carrying a smaller, wired object was detained near the border after it was suspected of being a Pakistani spy. The bird was X-rayed, but nothing suspicious was found in its body.
Another pigeon was taken into custody in October 2016 after it was found near the border with a message threatening the prime minister of India.
