American arrested after trying to reach protected, remote tribe off Indian coast
NEW DELHI— Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American YouTuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean and left an offering of a Diet Coke can and a coconut in an attempt to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders.
NEW DELHI— Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American YouTuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean and left an offering of a Diet Coke can and a coconut in an attempt to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island — part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, police said.
A local court last week sent Polyakov to 14 days of judicial custody, and he is set to appear again in court on April 17.
The charges carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine. Indian authorities said they had informed the U.S. Embassy about the case.
Visitors are banned from traveling within 3 miles of the island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years.
Rating: 5