Pigeon Spy Jailed In India For Fowl Play, ‘James Bird’ X-Rayed For Secret Transmitter

Better watch out, James Bond; this one pigeon spy was suspected of having a gadget that may make even 007 jealous. Of course, since Indian authorities had to X-Ray the flying ace to find it, this bird spy would have suffered from animal cruelty in order to become the top avian spy.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Moonraker fans might be interested in the Air Force mystery shuttle X-37B, which has some experts saying it might be a space spy plane.

Back on Earth, spying has officially gone to the birds. Authorities in India believe the pigeon spy was snooping on the border on behalf of Pakistan. The only reason “James Bird” was nabbed was because a 14-year-old boy became suspicious of the spying bird when he saw a stamped message on the bird’s tail feathers along with a string of numbers.

The boy’s father, Ramesh Chandra, says the pigeon spy had landed on his home on Wednesday evening. So after capturing the pigeon they went for authorities.

“Unfortunately, mobile phones rarely work in the border areas,” Chandra said. “My son ran to the nearest police post.”

Senior police superintendent Rakesh Kaushal said on Friday that the pigeon spy was then X-rayed at a local vet in order to see if there was a secret transmitter embedded within its body.

“We sent the bird to a polyclinic where X-ray scans were done to see if there is any spy camera, transmitter or hidden chip,” Kaushal explained, according to AFP. “Till now there is no evidence to suggest it is a spy bird but so long as we are not able to decipher what is written in Urdu, we cannot be absolutely sure.”

The pigeon was officially arrested as a “suspected spy,” which might seem odd until you consider the history of avian espionage. Back in 2013, Indian security forces found a dead falcon fitted with a spy camera, and in 2010 another suspected pigeon spy was detained over sleuthing. In 2008, Iranian authorities arrested two pigeons for spying on a nuclear facility, and Egypt arrested a stork for having a mysterious device attached to its feathers.

Still, the police superintendent admits that the pigeon spy is a rare bird, indeed.

“This is a rare instance of a bird from Pakistan being spotted here. We have caught a few spies here,” he said, according to The Guardian. “The area is sensitive, given its proximity to Jammu, where infiltration is quite common.”

[Image via Twitter]