The Chunabhatti police have arrested a man for allegedly stealing 40 homing pigeons from an enthusiast and selling them at exorbitant rates in the market. They are yet to recover the avians, which are capable of finding their way home after travelling distances as vast as 1,500 km.

The pigeons were kept in a coop outside the home of the complainant, Ahmed Khalil Sayyed, 25, at Habiba Chawl, Kureshi Nagar in Kurla. According to the police, Sayyed bought the birds for his children and trained them as a hobby, and one such avian costs around Rs 2,700.