Pak boy in 'protective custody' for attempting to operate self-made 'flying machine'

A Pakistani student who attempted to operate a "flying machine" he built has been taken into "protective custody" by police in Punjab province, a media report said Monday.

Police detained Fayaz, a matriculation student, who was about to "fly" his device in the fields of a village in Muhammad Nagar of Arifwala, Punjab province.

Rang Shah police on Sunday took the youth into "protective custody" who was attempting to operate, what he called, a flying device he had created, Dawn newspaper reported.

Fayaz said he sold his four-kanal (0.5 acre) land he had inherited and invested the money into developing the flying machine.

On Sunday, hundreds of villagers gathered as he was about to test the machine. However, someone informed Rang Shah police who cordoned off the fields and stopped Fayaz from operating the machine.

Witnesses said police carried the machine in a tractor trolley and took it to the police station along with Fayaz. No first information report was registered against him and the youth was in custody, the report said.

Rang Shah Station House Officer Nisar Bhatti told Dawn that Fayaz had only been taken into protective custody and the unreliable machine impounded to ensure it did not cause any harm to villagers who had gathered to witness the experiment.

He said they have asked experts to check the machine and how it would function.