A pigeon suspected of spying for China has been released after spending eight months in custody in India.

The winged 'criminal' was detained last May after officers from the RCF Police Station in Mumbai found it near a port with 'a message on their wings in illegible writing'.

Suspecting that it was involved in Chinese espionage, Indian police seized the bird and launched an investigation.

They then sent it to the Bai Sakarbai DinshawPetit Hospital for Animals (BSDPHA) located in the neighbourhood of Parel for further examination.

The bird was later identified as a racing bird from Taiwan that had become lost and was transferred to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Recently, the hospital notified police that the pigeon was still in its custody and sought permission to release it, as it was healthy and therefore unnecessary to occupy the cage.

After People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA) activists intervened by contacting the police, officers granted permission to release the bird.

In the first video, a BSDPHA vet can be seen holding the pigeon in both of his hands and taking it out of the cage for the first time in eight months on January 30.

The second and third clips show the puzzled bird walking on a tree branch and examining the surroundings after spending months behind bars.

Following the successful release, PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Saloni Sakaria said in a statement: 'PETA India extends gratitude to the BSDPHA for caring for the bird all these months.

'PETA India also commends the RCF Police Station for acceding to its request by promptly granting permission to the hospital and helping to set the bird free.'

This was reportedly not the first encounter Indian cops have had with alleged spy birds, as two other pigeons believed to be involved in a similar crime were caught in the state of Odisha two months earlier.

One was reportedly discovered on a fishing vessel with equipment attached to its leg, which cops believed to be a camera and a microchip. Investigations into both birds are ongoing.