PORT BLAIR/NEW DELHI: An American tourist was killed by a protected tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the police said today. Seven fishermen who took John Allen Chau to North Sentinel Island, where the indigenous Sentinelese people live, have been arrested, the police said.
The Sentinelese, whose population in 2011 was estimated at 40, are known to resist contact with the outside world.
The fishermen told the police that they last saw the American tourist being attacked with bows and arrows after he landed on the island towards the southern Andamans. The tribes dragged the 27-year-old tourist to the beach, half buried in the sand, before he disappeared from sight, they told the police.
The authorities in the Union Territory have launched helicopter search teams to look for the body. They said the helicopters are unable to land at the island as the Sentinelese are hostile to any attempt at approaching them.