'Spy pigeon' with coded message seized by Odisha police

A suspected spy pigeon was seized by Paradip Marine Police in Odisha on Wednesday, two days after it was caught from a fishing trawler in Puri district.

The bird was captured by the fishermen of a trawler named Sarathi at Ramchandi in Konark area in Puri district on the afternoon of March 6. 

The ‘feathered agent’ was found to be tagged with a tiny spy camera and a chip what appeared to be a GPS tracking system. Soon after capturing the pigeon, the alert fishermen wrapped the spy camera on its leg with black tape.

The fishermen tied the pigeon with a rope and handed it over to the marine police after reaching Paradip Fishing Harbour today. 

As per the fishermen, something like a secret or coded message was written in a foreign language in blue and red on the body of the pigeon. It is believed to be in Chinese and Urdu. 

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 never seen such a pigeon attached with camera and GPS tracking system.”

Sankar Behera, operator of the trawler, said, “When the pigeon perched on our trawler, some fishermen captured it and tied it with a rope. As soon as we spotted camera and chip, we wrapped them with black tape.”

“We found the pigeon at around 4 pm on March 6. As we reached today, we handed the pigeon to the Marine Police,” he added.  

Police sources said further investigation into the matter is underway.