A pigeon accused of being a Chinese spy has been cleared of espionage by Indian police and released back into the wild.
The bird was captured in May last year near a port in Mumbai, with two rings tied to its legs that appeared to feature Chinese characters.
Suspecting espionage, the police detained the pigeon, later sending it to Mumbai’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals.
Pigeons are thought to be used by deeply embedded spies to carry encrypted messages back to handlers.
A three-month police investigation found that the pigeon was, in fact, an open-water racing bird from Taiwan that had escaped and flown to India. The bird was released on Tuesday from the hospital premises.
“Now, the pigeon is finally free to soar the skies as every bird should be allowed to do,” Meet Ashar, an official with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, a non-profit organisation that works to improve the lives of animals, told the Telegraph.
PETA India last week reached out to the police to lobby for the release.
“PETA India handles 1,000 calls a week of animal emergencies, but this was our first case of a suspected spy who needed to be freed of wrongful imprisonment,” Mr Ashar said.
Authorities found the innocent bird “healthy and occupying a cage unnecessarily” he added.