Move over James Bond; India returns alleged bird spy to Pakistan

 

FILE PHOTO: General view of a pigeon kept by Oswald Ossie Robson, a pigeon fancier in Pelton Fell after pigeon racing was suspended as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, Britain March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Lee Smith/File Photo

 

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian police have released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the contentious border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy, two officials said on Friday.

 

"The pigeon was set free yesterday (May 28) after nothing suspicious was found," said Shailendra Mishra, a senior police official in Indian-administered Kashmir. It was unclear where the bird was released and whether it flew back to its owner.

 

The Pakistani owner of the pigeon had urged India to return his bird, which Indian villagers turned over to police after discovering it.

 

"It's just an innocent bird," Habibullah, the owner of the bird, who goes by just one name, told Reuters on Friday.

 

He rejected allegations that the numbers inscribed on a ring on the pigeon's leg were codes meant for militant groups operating in the disputed region of Kashmir.

 

Habibullah, who lives in a village near the Kashmir border, one of the most militarised zones in the world, said the bird had participated in a pigeon racing contest and the digits on the bird's leg were his mobile phone number.

 

The sport is especially popular in the border villages, said Yasir Khalid of the Shakar Garh Pigeon Club, adding such races are held in India too, and it is not unusual to lose a bird on either side. Owners identify their birds with stamps on the wings, paint and rings on the feet.

 

"We had to take the bird into our custody to probe if it was being using for spying," a senior Indian border security officer said requesting anonymity, while explaining this was part of the drill given border sensitivities.

 

In 2016, a pigeon was taken into Indian custody after it was found with a note threatening Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar, Umar Farooq in Istanbul; Additional reporting by Rupam Jain; Editing by Gibran Peshimam and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-30

 

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What´s next? Visa for ants?

Used to work with a guy who raced pigeons guess lots of people do it glad he got his bird back

1 hour ago, Matzzon said:

What´s next? Visa for ants?

Only as long as they form an orderly queue.

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

said the bird had participated in a pigeon racing contest and the digits on the bird's leg were his mobile phone number

But it would be easier to TXT as answering it when flying was not easy .. 

 

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Owners identify their birds with stamps on the wings

Is that 1st class for the HiSo birds then .. 

3 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Owners identify their birds with stamps on the wings

Is that 1st class for the HiSo birds then .. 

The birds weren't Royal Male obviously.

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Only as long as they form an orderly queue.

And dress appropriately 

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"It's just an innocent bird," Habibullah, the owner of the bird, who goes by just one name, told Reuters on Friday.

Is it the bird or the owner who goes by one name?   PML

Living in the "dark ages" and having a nuclear bomb..........unbelievable.

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

said the bird had participated in a pigeon racing contest

I guess he lost. ????

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

India returns alleged bird spy to Pakistan

12 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

India returns alleged bird spy to Pakistan

I'd have thought that was more of a pie bird.

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I'd have thought that was more of a pie bird.

I used to go out with a bird who liked a pie or 3  .. but chicken and mushroom .. does that count .. 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

We had to take the bird into our custody to probe if it was being using for spying

They should've got Dastardly and Muttley on his tail .. 

 

 when water boarding failed, it was tied to a chair with a bright light shone in its face.  A tall blond haired man in a full length black leather jacket walked in, stood nose to nose, said, "Ve haf vays ov making you talk!"

 

when  that failed they were out of ideas and it was released.  True story.

58 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

I used to go out with a bird who liked a pie or 3  .. but chicken and mushroom .. does that count .. 

I'd have thought the ones keen on a meat sandwich would be popular, especially hide the salami.

Hartlepool (**North England) is known by many as the place where a monkey was mistaken for a French spy and hanged..........

 

One stormy day, a French ship was wrecked off the coast of an old fishing village clinging to the north-east coast of England.

The only survivor was the ship's mascot, a monkey that was washed ashore.

The people of Hartlepool had never seen a monkey before - nor, for that matter, had they ever set eyes on a Frenchman.

Mistaking its chattering for the language of the enemy, they convicted the monkey of being a French spy and hanged the animal

Can remember a few years ago some wild life photographers returning by road from Canada to the USA. 

They had 'adopted' a few geese that had been abandond by their parents. At the border they were refused entry of livestock, 7 or 8 young geese in the back of the estate wagon.

They reversed about 300 yards and let the geese out and drove through the border. Stopping after a few hundred yards they opened the tailgate and the young geese flew over to the USA and back into the estate wagon, leaving the border guards looking a bit silly in the process.

????????

On 5/30/2020 at 8:58 AM, rooster59 said:

India returns alleged bird spy to Pakistan

On 5/30/2020 at 1:37 PM, Dap said:

And dress appropriately 

And maintain proper social distancing. ????

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

And maintain proper social distancing. ????

 

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

And maintain proper social distancing. ????

Made me laugh  also made me spill my beer  but was well worth it  as I had another waiting in the wings 

It wasn't wearing a GoPro so it was OK. What they didn't know was that the bird had a photographic memory.

It was a miscommunication from the get-go.  The intercepted message was supposed to say the spy was a bird-brain, but the text got truncated.

 

 

On 5/30/2020 at 10:39 AM, Matzzon said:

What´s next? Visa for ants?

Yes but millions will get denied according  to you.????

On 5/30/2020 at 6:08 PM, sanuk711 said:

Hartlepool (**North England) is known by many as the place where a monkey was mistaken for a French spy and hanged..........

 

One stormy day, a French ship was wrecked off the coast of an old fishing village clinging to the north-east coast of England.

The only survivor was the ship's mascot, a monkey that was washed ashore.

The people of Hartlepool had never seen a monkey before - nor, for that matter, had they ever set eyes on a Frenchman.

Mistaking its chattering for the language of the enemy, they convicted the monkey of being a French spy and hanged the animal

link pls

 

5 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

link pls

The best I can find is this:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-40801937

 

20 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Similar came to my mind.

6 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

link pls

They were so proud they erected a statue about it................The Hartlepool Monkey monument on Hartlepool Headland

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_hanger

 

And wrote a song about it.....

 

In former times, mid war an' strife,
The French invasion threatened life,
An' all was armed to the knife,
The Fishermen hung the Monkey O!
The Fishermen wi' courage high,
Seized on the Monkey for a spy,
"Hang him" says yen, says another,"He'll die!"
They did, and they hung the Monkey O!.
They tried every move to make him speak,
They tortor'd the Monkey till loud he did squeak
Says yen, "That's French," says another "it's Greek"
For the Fishermen had got drunky, O!
"He's all ower hair!" sum chap did cry,
E'en up te summic cute an' sly
Wiv a cod's head then they closed an eye,
Afore they hung the Monkey O!

 

Edited June 1, 20206 yr by sanuk711