US vacationer arrested for touchdown on forbidden Indian tribal island

[ad_1] Indian police mentioned on Thursday they'd arrested a US vacationer who sneaked on to a extremely restricted island carrying a coconut and a can of Eating regimen Coke to a tribe untouched by the economic world.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel – a part of India’s Andaman Islands – in an try to satisfy the Sentinelese folks, who're believed to quantity solely about 150.

All outsiders, Indians and foreigners alike, are banned from travelling inside 3 miles (5km) of the island to guard the Indigenous folks from exterior illnesses and to protect their lifestyle.

“The American citizen was introduced earlier than the native courtroom after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for additional interrogation,” the Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief, HGS Dhaliwal, informed AFP.

Satellite tv for pc images present a coral reef-fringed island – stretching to some 6 miles at its widest level – with thick forest and white sand seashores.

The Sentinelese final made worldwide headlines in 2018 after they killed John Allen Chau , 27, an American missionary who landed illegally on their seaside.

Chau’s physique was not recovered and there have been no investigations over his loss of life due to the Indian regulation prohibiting anybody from going to the island.

India sees the broader Andaman and Nicobar Islands as strategically sited on key world transport lanes. They're nearer to Myanmar than mainland India.

New Delhi plans to speculate a minimum of $9bn (£6.7bn) to broaden naval and airbases, troop lodging, the port and the primary metropolis within the area.

Dhaliwal mentioned Polyakov saved blowing a whistle off the shore of North Sentinel Island for about an hour to draw the tribe’s consideration earlier than he went ashore.

“He landed briefly for about 5 minutes, left the choices on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video earlier than returning to his boat,” Dhaliwal mentioned. “A evaluation of his GoPro digicam footage confirmed his entry and touchdown into the restricted North Sentinel Island.”

Police mentioned Polyakov was arrested late on Monday, about two days after he went ashore, and had visited the area twice in latest months.

He first used an inflatable kayak in October 2024 however was stopped by lodge workers, police mentioned on Thursday. Polyakov made one other unsuccessful try throughout a go to in January 2025.

This time Polyakov used one other inflatable boat with a motor to journey the roughly 35 kilometres (22 miles) of open sea from the primary archipelago.

The Sentinelese, whose language and customs stay a thriller to outsiders, shun all contact and have a file of hostility to anybody who tries to get shut.

{A photograph} issued by the Indian coastguard and Survival Worldwide twenty years in the past confirmed a Sentinelese man aiming a bow and arrow at a passing helicopter.

Indian authorities have prosecuted any locals who've aided makes an attempt to enter the island and are attempting to determine anybody who could have helped Polyakov.

The Andamans are additionally dwelling to the 400-strong Jarawa tribe, who activists say are additionally threatened by contact from outsiders. Vacationers have beforehand bribed native officers in an try and spend time with the Jarawa.