The recovery of two “spy pigeons” in the past 24 hours in Katra town of Reasi district and Khour area of Akhnoor sector, in Jammu district, has set off alarm bells within the security establishment vis-à-vis new tactics being adopted by militants and their mentors across the border to facilitate terror activities in the state.
On Friday, a pigeon with a paper slip with a mobile number tied to its leg was picked up by one Lucky, a resident of Khour, from the rooftop of his house. Lucky immediately informed the SOG personnel and handed over the bird. The SOG later gave the bird to Dy SP (Akhnoor) for further investigation, police sources revealed.
Earlier on Thursday evening the Katra police had picked up a pigeon from the roof of a hotel in town with the code names of two suspected terrorists and telephone numbers stamped on its tail. Police sources claimed the bird was immediately shifted for decoding. The names “Raja Muslim Shehzad” and “Haji Sarwar”, both suspected to be terrorists, were stamped on the pigeon’s tail along with the phone numbers “03456694817” and “03003371014”. The white-coloured bird was painted pink and green.
The security forces and intelligence personnel are taking this new development as a serious threat. “This could just be mischief by terrorists to check alertness levels or a test for another means to spread terror,” police sources said.
Security forces are hunting the suspected terrorists whose names were stamped on the pigeon’s tail.