An American tourist was in police custody after allegedly trying to access a restricted territory of North Sentinel, trying to meet one of the most isolated tribes in the world.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov had with him a coconut and a can of Diet Coke, officials in India said. The remote island is part of the country’s Andaman Islands.
While arrested, he has not yet been charged.
Officials in the U.S. said they were aware of the situation and are monitoring it.
It is forbidden for anyone to travel to where the Sentinelese people live to protect the indigenous people, to protect them from outside disease and to protect their lifestyle. It is unknown how many people are in the community as estimates range from dozens of people to hundreds.
Officials said Polyakov repeatedly blew a whistle off the shore of the island for about an hour on March 29 to get the civilization’s attention before going ashore.
“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,” Chief HGS Dhaliwal said. “A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island.”
It does not appear that he made contact with anyone from the tribe. Police were alerted to Polyakov’s presence by a fisherman on his way back through the Bay of Bengal to South Andaman.
Officials said that the soft drink was not found on the island, but a search is being conducted at a distance from the island, using boats and binoculars.
Polyakov had visited the area two other times in recent months - once in October 2024 when he tried to use an inflatable kayak, but was stopped by hotel staff and again in January.
The latest attempt, Polyakov also used an inflatable watercraft with a motor to navigate 22 miles of open sea.
“It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic,” Survival International director Carolina Pearce said. “This person’s actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk. It’s very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out.”
The Sentinelese will go to great lengths to protect their home, including aiming a bow and arrow at a helicopter.
American missionary John Allen Chau was presumed killed in 2018 after illegally accessing the beach. His body was never recovered and no investigation occurred because it is illegal to go to the island. Officials believed he was shot and killed by arrows.
There are more than 100 uncontacted tribes globally, according to Survival International.
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