Robot arrested after 'recording voters' opinions' at Moscow rally

A robot has been arrested at a political rally in Moscow after "recording voters' opinions on topics", it has been reported.

Russian Parliament candidate Valery Kalachev had hired the machine, named Promobot, for his campaign.

But a Promobot spokesman in an email told Inverse Magazine it was arrested because it was "recording voters' opinions on [a] variety of topics for further processing and analysis by the candidate's team" and said that it was detained because the "action wasn't authorised".

"Police asked to remove the robot away from the crowded area, and even tried to handcuff him," the spokesman added according to a report in Inverse Magazine.

Just before the machine was arrested, a member of the public apparently asked the police officer: "Are you really going to put a robot in jail?"

An officer replied: "Not if we can roll this thing away from the metro entrance."

Candidate Kalachev, who hopes to win a parliamentary seat for the Rodina party, said: "People like robots, they are easy to get along with. There are a few Promobots working for us which are collecting people's demands and wishes at the moment."

Promobots seem to be making a habit of hitting the headlines, after one escaped from its research lab earlier this year and went out in front of oncoming traffic, twice.

It caused chaos for more than an hour as traffic avoided crashing into it.

Promobot stands for 'Promotional Robot'. They were created by Russian scientists to work in customer relations.