John Chau's Killing: 44 Violations by Andaman Visitors in Recent Past; RAP to be Re-imposed on North Sentinel island
n the wake of the recent incident in which, a protected Sentinelese tribe killed an American citizen John Allen Chau in Andaman and Nicobar islands, The central government may reimpose the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) on the visit of the island.
Port Blair, November 28: Days after, an American citizen John Allen Chau was killed by a protected Sentinelese tribe in Andaman's North Sentinal Island, the central government may reimpose the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) on the visit of the island. A delegation of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) headed by its chairman Nand Kumar Sai will also visit the union territory on December 4 to assess the situation.
The RAP forbids people from visiting prohibited locations without permission. According to the government, 44 incidents of violation of rules and regulations, other than RAP, by foreigners have taken place in the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the recent past. The North Sentinel island is one of 29 islands in the Andamans where till June foreigners had to take special permission to visit. After the withdrawal of the RAP, the tourists were still required to take permission from the forest department and the administration of the Andamans as it is protected under two other acts -- protection of aboriginal people and forest acts.
According to police, a local electronics engineer and water sports service provider helped Chau to evade the patrolling teams of police, Coast Guard and Navy to approach the island. He also paid local fishermen Rs 25,000 to reach the island. Chau was a missionary. The 27-year-old had gone to the island to preach Christianity to people who live secluded from the rest of the world. After reaching the island on November 15, he tried to lure them with a football and fish, but they shot him with an arrow that hit his Bible. After which, Chau returned to his boat and fled. That night, he wrote about his encounter in a journal and gave it to the fishermen.
Trying his luck the next day, he went back to the tribals on November 16. Chau had fixed a place where he would meet his helpers, but he did not return. Later the fishermen watched from a distance as the tribesmen dragged Chau's body away and buried it.
(With inputs from PTI)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 28, 2018 11:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).