'Pakistani Pigeon' caught in Punjab, X-rayed by sleuths

A white pigeon with "some words written in Urdu" has been found in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district The pigeon is suspected to have flown into the Indian territory from Pakistan

A white pigeon, apparently from across the border, with "some words written in Urdu" has been found in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, police said today. Naresh Kumar, a resident of Motla village in the district,had yesterday spotted the bird at his house. He noticed something written on its wings in Urdu and brought it to the notice of police, which took the bird into custody today.

The pigeon is suspected to have flown into the Indian territory from Pakistan. The avian was "inspected" by the sleuths of security agencies and an X-ray scan was also conducted on it. "Police found some numerical digits stamped on the bird's wings. We are trying to ascertain if it is a mobile number and if the pigeon came from Pakistan," said DSP, Mukerian, Bhupinder Singh.

"There is a stamp and something written in Urdu on its wings. Besides, an eleven-digit number was also found on its body," SHO, Mukerian, Jaswinderpal Singh said.

"We got the writing translated...Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday is written on the pigeon's body," he said. Officials from the state intelligence and the Army also inspected the bird, police said. Last year, a pigeon with some words written in Urdu waS found by villagers in the Bamial sector of Pathankot district, which is just a few kilometres away from the Indo-Pak border.