American Is Kept in Custody After Stunt With Remote Tribe

UPDATE Apr 17, 2025 7:41 AM CDT

An American YouTuber who was arrested after trying to establish contact with a remote tribe in India did not get a break from the courts on Thursday. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, was further detained in custody, reports the AP. He is next scheduled to appear in court in Port Blair, capital of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on April 29. "It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws," said a senior police official.

Apr 3, 2025 7:11 AM CDT

The last known outsider to visit an isolated Sentinelese tribe on North Sentinel Island, the US missionary John Allen Chau, was killed by those he hoped to save. So a US tourist who arrived to the island with a can of Coca-Cola and a coconut to offer as tribute should consider himself lucky he was only arrested. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, was nabbed on his return from the island, where he left his offerings after failing to contact the tribe that is hostile to outsiders, the Telegraph reports. He'd arrived on India's South Andaman Island on March 26, around three days before setting out from a beach in an inflatable boat equipped with a motor, according to Indian police.

Using GPS, Polyakov crossed a 25-mile strait to reach North Sentinel Island, off limits since 1996, on Saturday, then blew a whistle for an hour in an attempt to draw out the Sentinelese, police said. They never appeared, so Polyakov briefly left his boat, collected sand samples, recorded a video, and deposited a can of Coke and a coconut as offerings, police said. He then navigated back to South Andaman Island, where local fisherman alerted police. Police, who've filed a case against Polyakov for breach of protection of aboriginal tribes, said the 24-year-old had previously tried to contact other indigenous tribes in the archipelago, including the Jarawa tribe on Baratang island in January.

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Police said he carefully planned his latest trip by studying sea conditions, tides, and access points. He'd also tried to scout the island from an inflatable kayak in October but was stopped by hotel staff, officials said, per the New York Post. Caroline Pearce, the director of indigenous rights group Survival International, said his efforts were "deeply disturbing" as well as "reckless and idiotic," risking his own life and those of tribe members who have no immunity to common outside diseases, per the Telegraph. Officers seized Polyakov's boat, camera, and other supplies and held him for questioning. "We are getting more details about him and his intention to visit the reserved tribal area" and "trying to find where else he had visited," says a police rep. (More North Sentinel Island stories.)