An American tourist was arrested after allegedly traveling to a remote island in Bengal Bay and trying to contact one of the most isolated tribes in the world.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made the illegal trip to Northern Sentinel Island, home to the enigmatic Sentinelese tribe, on March 29, the Indian police said to CNN .
Northern Sentinel Island is a dirt mass approximately Manhattan size in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, about 1,207 km from the Indian continent.
Visiting the island is prohibited by India’s law to keep the lifestyle sentinese and protect them from modern diseases, of which they have no immunity.
Although Polyakov has hit the island successfully, he does not seem to have made contact with the Sentinelese tribe, said Jitendra Kumar Meena, head of the Andaman and Nicobar Police Criminal Investigation Department, CNN .
He was seen by a local fisherman on the way back and arrested two days later, said Meena. Police seized an inflatable boat and a polyakov engine. He has not yet been accused of any infraction.
A US Department spokesman stated: “We are aware of the reports of the detention of an American citizen in India” in a statement to CNN but could not comment more on the case. It is unclear if Polyakov hired a lawyer.
One of the most isolated tribes in the world
Sentineles have only made contact with the modern world a few times and are known for vigorously rejecting outsiders.
Because they are so prisoners, it is difficult to know how many they are – the estimates range from tens to hundreds.
Previous meetings with the tribe proved to be fatal.
In 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau would have been killed by people from the tribe after he arrived at Northern Sentinel Island, hoping to convert the local population to Christianity.
Polyakov is “lucky not to have made contact, otherwise it would have had the same destination,” said Meena.
Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International, a non -profit organization dedicated to the protection of isolated tribal groups, called Polyakov’s alleged actions of “reckless and idiots.”
“This person’s actions not only endanged his own life, but also the lives of the whole tribe sentinese,” he said in a statement.
Adding that, “it is well known that isolated peoples have no immunity to ordinary external diseases such as flu or measles, which could exterminate them completely.”
Illegal visit to the sentinese
Polyakov planned the trip well in advance, visiting the Andaman Islands twice before traveling to North Sentinel on his third visit, supposedly from a beach about 40 km away in South Andaman, Meena explained.
“According to what has revealed in the investigation so far, he said he likes adventures. He said he left some soda bottles there for the tribe, but we have found nothing so far,” he continued.
Police seized Polyakov’s phone and Gopro, as well as a sandy bottle he allegedly collected from the island.
A special research team is searching the island from far away, in boats using binoculars, despite the busy waters of recent days, Meena said.
This content was originally published in US tourists is arrested for trying to approach isolated tribe on island on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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