NEW DELHI: Indian police said Monday they have taken a pigeon into custody after it was found carrying a warning note to Prime Minister Narendra Modi near the heavily militarised border with Pakistan.
Border Security Force (BSF) officers found the bird at Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab.
"We took it into custody last evening," Pathankot police inspector Rakesh Kumar told AFP by telephone.
"The BSF found it with a note in Urdu saying something like 'Modi, we're not the same people from 1971. Now each and every child is ready to fight against India'," Kumar said.
Kumar claimed the note was signed by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). "So we are investigating the matter very seriously," he added.
It is not the first time birds have become embroiled in the often deadly decades-old rivalry between the two nuclear-armed nations, as the Indian forces claimed similar incidents in the past as well.
But it comes as tensions escalate over a raid on an Indian army base in Kashmir’s Uri district two weeks ago. Last week, India's military violated border in Kashmir, killing two Pakistani soldiers, a move that sparked fury from Islamabad.
According to Indian police, two balloons were also recently found in Punjab with similar messages addressed to Modi in Urdu.
Last year, Indian police seized a pigeon on suspicion it was being used for espionage by Pakistan and also X-rayed it to check for any spy camera, transmitter or hidden chip. In 2013, Indian security forces found a dead falcon fitted with a small camera, and in 2010 another pigeon was detained over spying fears.
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