The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India, recently drew national and international media attention for two incidents, but both for wrong reasons. The group of 572 islands, where 38 are inhabited, with the landmass of around 8,249 square kilometre woke up to an incident where a foreigner was caught for visiting a restricted island and also a local journalist was found dead in the last week of March 2025. News broke from Port Blair (now renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram), the capital & largest township of the territory, that Ukrainian-American national (identified as Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov) reached North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean to make contact with the uncontacted Sentinelese people.
Polyakov (24) was arrested for illegally entering the North Sentinel shore under the greater Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 31 March. According to the police authority, the young tourist arrived in Port Blair on 26 March and the accused (S/o Victor Polyakov, Arizona 85251, USA) intentionally ventured to reach North Sentinel island from Kurma Dera beach in the early morning hours of 29 March with a single-seat boat. He reached the island’s north-eastern shore by 10 am and looked for the isolated inhabitants but reportedly saw none. Even though he waited for an hour and blew a whistle to attract the attention of the Sentinelese in vain. Later he landed briefly for five minutes and left some offerings (a coconut and a can of soda) for the inaccessible inhabitants. The Kurma Dera beach fishermen spotted him in the evening hours along with a GPS equipment and a video camera capturing footage on his visit.
London-based global outfit Survival International (SI), which is dedicated for indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights, expressed relief that Polyakov was arrested but Sl director Caroline Pearce termed the news as deeply disturbing. In a media statement released on 2 April, she exclaimed, “It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic. 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.” She asserted that the Indian authorities have a legal responsibility to ensure that the Sentinelese are safe from missionaries, social media influencers, and people fishing illegally in their waters.
It may be mentioned that the Sentinelese, who wish to avoid outsiders, are classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) and their hostilities towards outside elements are well recorded. Nearly seven years back, they killed an American missionary (John Allen Chau) in 2018 for reaching their remote island with an aim to convert the tribes into Christianity. The self-styled adventurer Chau was buried in isolation and the SI appealed to the authorities not to try to bring back his mortal remains so that the Sentinelese could be protected from any disease transmission.
The police are investigating his actual intention to visit the restricted tribal area. It’s revealed that Polyakov tried to reach the location in October 2023 too, but he was prevented by the Port Blair hotel staff. Later in January 2024, he arrived in Baratang islands and allegedly filmed the indigenous Jarawa tribe. A police complaint was already registered against Polyakov under the Foreigners Act 1946, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation 2012. Currently Polyakov is under police custody as the probe continues.
“Uncontacted Indigenous peoples around the world are experiencing the invasion of their lands on a shocking scale. Countless uncontacted peoples in the Amazon are being invaded by loggers and gold-miners,” said SI director Pearce, adding that the un-contacted Shompen of Great Nicobar Island, not far from North Sentinel, will be wiped out if New Delhi goes ahead with its plan to transform their island into the Hong Kong of India. The common factor in all these cases is governments’ refusal to abide by international law and recognize & protect uncontacted peoples’ territories, she concluded.
Meanwhile, online journalist Sahadev Dey was found dead after he went missing on 29 March from Diglipur area of Andaman and Nicobar islands. Dey (35), who used to run local news channel ‘Republic Andaman’, was reportedly targeted for personal feuds. The police in Post Blair have already arrested four individuals (namely Gangaiah, who runs a restaurant cum bar in Diglipur, two of his staff members Ramesh and Rama Subramanian along with Bitika Mallik, a local woman) in connection with the murder. However, Dey’s family members and various civil society groups expressed annoyance over the police version where his personal life (read an extramarital affair with the local lady) was dragged into the episode. Hence they have demanded an impartial probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation over the matter.
The Geneva-based global media safety and rights body, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expressed serious concern over the suspected killing of Dey and demanded a fair probe to identify the probable culprits to punish under the law. PEC president Blaise Lempen stated that Dey was vocal against illegal timber smuggling, soil cutting and hooch racket & gambling in his locality. Being an active journalist, Dey might have earned enmity from various elements which should be brought to the light, added Lempen. Revealing that Dey becomes the third journalist to be killed in India since 1 January (46th media victim across the globe this year till date), Lempen also expected that the bereaved family would be compensated by the relevant authorities.
Nava Thakuria is a senior journalist based in Assam and his focus areas remain the eastern part of Bharat along with Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet (China), Myanmar and Bangladesh.