A 24-year-old US national was arrested for illegally going to the Northern Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 31st March. The man named Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was reportedly arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for attempting to venture into the forbidden island without authorisation.
This is not the first time that Polyakov has attempted to enter the island. According to police, Polyakov made a similar attempt in October last year during his visit to Port Blair. He tried to survey the island using an inflatable kayak. However, he was prevented by the hotel staff from going there. He later came to visit the island in January this year, planning to enter the island through a motorboat. This time, he also visited the Baratang Islands and allegedly videographed the Jarawa tribe illegally.
Polyakov left a can of Coca-Cola and a coconut for the Sentinelese people
Polyakov, whose father is of Ukrainian origin, reportedly reached Port Blair on 26th March and attempted to enter the Northern Sentinel Island from the Kurma Dera beach. He left the Kurma Dera beach around 1 pm on 29th March in a boat. He was carrying a coconut and a can of Coca-Cola to offer to the Sentinelese people. He managed to reach the northeastern shore of the island by 10 am on 30th March. He surveyed the area using the binoculars, hoping to locate any inhabitants. He stayed offshore for about an hour, blowing a whistle to unsuccessfully attract the attention of the Sentinelese people. Polyakov also reportedly stayed on the shore for a few minutes. He left the Coca-Cola can and the coconut there, collected some sand samples and filmed the area before getting back on his boat. He returned to Kurma Dera beach by 7 pm when he was seen by a local fisherman. He is currently in the custody of the police and is being interrogated at the direction of the court. His arrest was communicated to the Ministry of External Affairs and the US Embassy.
“We are getting more details about him and his intention to visit the reserved tribal area. We are also trying to find where else he had visited during his stay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We are questioning the hotel staff where he was staying in Port Blair,” DGP HS Dhaliwal told PTI. The authorities seized several items from his possession, including an inflatable boat and an outboard motor or OBM, and a GoPro camera containing footage showing him landing on North Sentinel Island. Polyakov is said to have used a GPS navigation though his journey. The police said that Polyakov planned his voyage in detail by researching the sea conditions, tides and the accessibility of the Northern Sentinelese island from the Kurma Dera beach. Polyakov has been booked under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation, 2012, based on the complaint of the Tribal Welfare Officer of Tirur, Pronab Sircar, at the Ograbraj police station.
The forbidden island and the tribe that abhors contact with the outside world
Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, travelling or accessing the Northern Sentinelese island is strictly prohibited. The island houses the vulnerable Sentinelese tribe, which is famous for being hostile to outsiders. They have a history of killing people who tried to enter their island or establish contact with them. The Indian government has declared Sentinel Island a protected area to preserve the tribe and safeguard them from diseases to which they are not immune. The Sentinelese tribe is said to be the world’s last pre-Neolithic tribe.
The islanders want to be left in isolation. To respect their wish, and to protect them from outside diseases, Government of India has strictly banned access to the island for everyone.
In November 2018, an American evangelist, John Allen Chau, was killed by the Sentinelese people after he entered the island illegally, wanting to convert the tribe to Christianity. Chau’s notes revealed that he was planning to establish the “kingdom of Jesus” on the island. In 2006, two Indian fishermen, Sundar Raj and Pandit Tiwari, who were sleeping on their boat, which they had tied near the Northern Sentinel Island after poaching, were killed by the Sentinelese people after their boat drifted to the shore of the Island.
