A suspected spy pigeon was seized by Marine Police in Odisha on Wednesday, 2 days after it was caught from a fishing boat in the Jagtsinghshpur district. The bird was caught by fishermen of a trawler named Sarathi on March 6.
The suspected ‘flying agent’ was found with a tiny spy camera and a chip that appeared like a GPS device, tied to its legs. The bird was captured by the fisherman when it sat on the trawler which was anchored. Immediately after capturing the pigeon, the alert fishermen covered the spy camera on its leg with black tape. The fishermen later handed it over to the marine police after reaching Paradip Fishing Harbour yesterday.
The fishermen say that something was written on the body of the bird in a foreign language that couldn’t be understood. The message was written in blue and red colour.
Prakash Behera, a fisherman, said, “The trawler was anchored near Ramchandi lighthouse in Konark when the pigeon perched on it. We found a GPS chip and camera fitted to the leg of the pigeon. The Marine Police have taken the bird into custody. We have never seen such a pigeon attached with a camera and GPS device.”
Behera added that he was feeding the bird after its capture till it was handed over to the police.
Paradip ASP Nimai Charan Sethi while talking to ANI said that the devices attached to the pigeon couldn’t be verified. The police said that the pigeon with all the material before a cyber expert to find out the truth.
Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Rahul PR while speaking about the incident said “Our veterinarians will examine the bird. We will seek the help of the State Forensic Science Laboratory for examining the devices attached to its legs. It appears that the devices are a camera and a microchip”.
It is to be noted that several such incidents have happened in the past. On one occasion a pigeon that had the tag Jabaz Khan managed to escape and fly toward the neighboring country.
