Another suspected spy pigeon caught in Odisha

PTI, Mar 16, 2023, 2:52 PM IST

PTI photo (for representation)

A suspected spy pigeon was found in Odisha’s Puri district, police said on Thursday.

This is the second incident in the state in a week as another such pigeon was caught from a fishing boat off the Paradip coast in Jagatsinghpur district on March 8, they said.

This new pigeon was caught on Wednesday at Nanpur village in Astarang block of Puri district. A local nabbed it when it came for mingling with the other pigeons, police said.

It had tags attached to its legs with brass and plastic rings. One of the tags had ‘REDDY VSP DN’ engraved, while another bore the number 31 on it, they said.

Villagers claimed the pigeon was in the area for a week.

”We have pet pigeons at our house. This pigeon came to mingle with our doves, and we found something peculiar about it. It remained aloof and did not freely mix with the other pigeons. We also noticed some tags on its legs. So we decided to catch it, and used a fishing net for the purpose,” said Bikram Pati, who caught the pigeon. Police said they were investigating whether this pigeon was also being used for spying.

The pigeon caught on March 8 had devices that looked like a camera and a microchip fitted to it. It was sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for examination.