John Allen Chau, 27, who was killed with arrows shot by the protected Sentinelese tribe in Andaman and Nicobar island on attempting to enter their homeland, paid local fishermen Rs 25,000 to evade the patrolling teams of police, Coast Guard and Navy.

Chau, reportedly, was a missionary who wanted to meet the Sentinelese in order to convert them to Christianity. Local daily Andaman Sheekha newspaper quoted sources to report that Chau “visited Andaman and Nicobar Islands five times in the past and had a strong desire to meet Sentinelese Tribes for preaching Christianity.”

Dependra Pathak, DGP, Andaman and Nicobar Police, in a press release issued late Wednesday evening, said John Allen Chau had enlisted the help of local electronics engineer Alexander and a water sports service provider and hired five fishermen to evade the patrolling teams of police, Coast Guard and Navy to approach the island.

“They started on November 14 around 8 PM for the North Sentinel Island and reached there by midnight. The next day, Chau moved to shore using his kayak which he got towed with the fishing boat. After dropping him the fishermen fixed their timings and place to meet each other between the shoreline and their high sea fishing area.”

DGP Pathak said that access to North Sentinel Island and its buffer zone is strictly restricted under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under Indian Forest Act, 1927.

He said in the release that despite knowing fully well about the illegality of the action and the hostile attitude of the Sentinelese tribesmen to the outsiders, these people collaborated with Chau for this visit to North Sentinel Island without any permission from the authorities.

As per PTI, the government this year excluded among 28 other, the North Sentinel Island in the Union Territory from the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) regime till December 31, 2022, enabling entry of foreigners here without seeking permission.

The Sentinelese people are among the tribes that survived the tsunami of 2004 without any help from the outside world. For the 2011 Census, enumerators could locate only 15 Sentinelese people – 12 men and three women. However, their numbers could be anything between 40 and 400, according to experts.

Chau’s body is yet to be recovered and the seven people who helped Chau have been booked and arrested in a case for violating the provisions of the PAT Regulation and causing the death of Chau.