JOIN USA pigeon found near Gujarat coast with a chip tied to its leg sent security establishment on a tizzy, as they suspected the bird was sent on “terror reccee".
However, initial investigations revealed that the pigeon must have been used for racing in foreign countries and must have strayed from its course to land on the Indian coast.
It all began when a security guard spotted the pigeon on March 20 at 4 pm around 5 nautical miles from the shore of Salaya at Essar Jetty “drinking water from the bowl under the syntac tank”.
The guard “found that the pigeon was not afraid of him and not going away”, Superintendent of Police of Devbhumi Dwarka district said in his note to the Home Ministry.
He caught the bird and found a chip on one leg and a ring with the number 28733 tied to the other. He also found Urdu or Arabic inscriptions on the bird’s wings. He reported the incident to his senior and handed the bird to the Coast Guard for investigation. It was in turn given to the Gujarat Police on March 23.
Police then “took charge” of the bird and sent the chip and the ring to the forensic lab. Experts found that the chip had the name “Benjing Dual” written on it.
“By searching Google, we found out that it is used for pigeon race,” the report said.