American tourist arrested after carrying a coca -Cola diet to Remote tribe in Forbidden Island, where another American was killed

The Indian police said Thursday that they had arrested an American tourist who slipped on a highly restricted island that carried a coconut and a can of Coca -Cola Light to a tribe that has not been touched by the modern world. The incident occurred seven years after another American was delicate for the tribe on the same island.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, stepped on the restricted territory of North Sentinel, part of the Andaman Islands of India, in an attempt to meet the Centinelés people, which is believed to only add up to 150.

All strangers, Indians and foreigners are prohibited from traveling less than three miles from the island to protect indigenous peoples from external diseases and preserve their way of life.

“The American citizen was presented to the local court after his arrest and is now in a three -day preventive detention for additional interrogation,” the Andaman police manager and the Nicobar Dhaliwal police chief told News.

Satellite photographs show a forced island with coral reefs, which extends to about six miles at its wider point, with thick forests and white sand beaches.

The Sentinelese was for the last time in international headlines in 2018 after them He killed John Allen Chau27, an American missionary who landed illegally on his beach.

Chau’s body was not recovered and there was no investigations on his death due to Indian law that prohibits someone from going to the island. The authorities at that time said they apparently shot him and Killed by arrows.

India sees the widest islands of Andaman and Nicobar as strategically located in key global shipping lanes. They are closer to Myanmar than continental India.

Nueva Delhi plans to invest at least $ 9 billion to expand naval and aerial bases, troop accommodations, the port and the main city of the region.

“Reckless and idiot”

Dhaliwal said Polyakov continued to blow a whistle on the shore of North Sentinel island for approximately one hour to attract the attention of the tribe before it was vaid.

“He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples and recorded a video before returning to his boat,” Dhaliwal said. “A review of the images of his Goopro camera showed his entrance and landed on the restricted island of North Sentinel.”

Police said Polyakov was arrested at night on Monday, approximately two days after he went to land, and had visited the region twice in recent months.

First he used an inflatable kayak in October 2024, but was arrested by the hotel staff, police said Thursday. Polyakov made another failed attempt during a visit in January 2025.

This time, Polyakov used another inflatable boat with an engine to travel approximately 22 miles of open sea from the main archipelago.

The Baleful Organization Survival International issued a statement, calling Polisakov actions “deeply disturbing/”

“Beggars believes that someone could be so reckless and idiot,” said group director Carolina Pearce. “The actions of this person not only endanger their own life, but also put the lives of the entire sentinel tribe at risk. It is very known that unpaort peoples do not have immunity to common foreign diseases such as flu or measles, which could eliminate them completely.”

The Sentinelese, whose language and customs are still a mystery to strangers, avoid all contact and have a hostility record for anyone who tries to approach.

A photograph issued by the Coast Guard of India and Survival International two decades ago showed a centinel man pointing an arc and arrow in a passing helicopter.

The Indian authorities have prosecuted the locals who have helped attempts to enter the island and are trying to identify anyone who helped Polyakov.

The Andaman also house the Jarawa tribe of 400 people, which according to the activists are also threatened by the contact of the strangers. Tourists have previously bribes local officials in an attempt to spend time with Jarawa.

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