An American tourist has been arrested after allegedly traveling to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal and attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated groups of indigenous people.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, is accused of landing on North Sentinel Island in an apparent move to link with the remote Sentinelese tribe, filming his visit and leaving a can of Coke and a coconut on the shore.
Survival International, a group that advocates for the rights of tribal people, said the alleged act endangered the man’s own life and the lives of the tribe, calling it “deeply disturbing.”
The U.S. said it was aware and “monitoring the situation.”
Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ police chief HGS Dhaliwal told news agency AFP “an American citizen” had been presented before the local court and was remanded for three days for “further interrogation”.
AFP, citing Dhaliwal, said Polyakov blew a whistle off the shore of the island in a bid to attract the attention of the uncontacted indigenous people for about an hour.
He then landed for about five minutes, leaving his offerings, collecting samples and recording a video.
The police chief told AFP: “A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island.”
Survival International describes the Sentinelese as “the most isolated Indigenous people in the world” living on an island around the size of Manhattan.
The BBC estimates some 200 people belong to the tribe, adding it was “impossible” to know its true number.
