India police detain pigeon with threatening Modi note

NEW DELHI: Indian police said Monday they have taken a pigeon into custody after it was found carrying a warning note to Prime Minister Narendra Modi near the nation´s heavily militarised border with Pakistan.

Border Security Force (BSF) officers found the bird at Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab, where Pakistan-based militants launched a deadly attack on an airforce base in January.

"We took it into custody last evening," Pathankot police inspector Rakesh Kumar told AFP by telephone.

"The BSF found it with a note in Urdu saying something like ´Modi, we´re not the same people from 1971. Now each and every child is ready to fight against India´," Kumar said.

The two countries fought their third and last full-blown war in 1971.

The note was apparently signed by militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) "so we are investigating the matter very seriously", Kumar said.

It is not the first time birds have become embroiled in the often deadly decades-old rivalry between the two nuclear-armed nations.

But it comes as tensions escalate over a raid on an Indian army base in Kashmir two weeks ago that New Delhi blamed on the same militant group held responsible for the attacks in January.

Last week, India´s military hit militants across the de-facto border dividing disputed Kashmir, in a rare move that sparked fury from Islamabad.

Two balloons were also recently found in Punjab with similar messages addressed to Modi in Urdu.

Last year, Indian police seized a pigeon on suspicion it was being used for espionage by Pakistan and also X-rayed it to check for any spy camera, transmitter or hidden chip.

In 2013, Indian security forces found a dead falcon fitted with a small camera, and in 2010 another pigeon was detained over spying fears.