Two Americans, a man and a woman, met John Chau: says Andaman Police investigating the possible role of the two

The Andaman Police are investigating the possible role of two United States missionaries who met John Allen, who was killed by group of indigenous Sentinelese after he tresspassed into North Sentinel island illegally. Dependra Pathak, head of police in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, told the news agency that they found out about the missionaries through Chau’s phone records.

“We are investigating the role of at least two Americans, a man and a woman, who met with the man who went to the island,” Pathak said. “These other two, who have since left the country, were reportedly into evangelical activities and encouraged him to visit the island.”

Pathak also said that the authorities have not been able to spot Chau’s body during their three reconnaissance trips near the island.

“We may go there again, if needed, to get a clearer picture of the sequence of events leading to the incident,” said Pathak, while adding that it is unlikely that the Sentinelese will exhume Chau’s body as they have buried it.

Read: Madhumala Chattopadhyay: Indian Woman Who Established First Friendly Contact With Sentinelese Tribe

Earlier, conservationists had requested the authorities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to call off the search for the body of an American man, who was killed by the endangered Sentinelese tribe after he trespassed on their island. A group of experts including anthropologist and researchers who have been studying the Sentinelese tribe expressed concern that search teams going to the island in south Andaman may escalate the tension.

Indian officials have traveled repeatedly in recent days near the remote island where an American missionary was killed by people who have long resisted the outside world. But they have not set foot onto North Sentinel Island since the incident. John Allen Chau was killed by islanders in mid-November after paying fishermen to take him to the island, where outsiders are effectively forbidden by Indian law. The fishermen informed authorities that they saw the Sentinelese bury Chau’s body on the beach. 

Read: Conservationists Request Authorities To Call Off Search For John Chau's Mortal Remains In Andaman

Earlier, Indian officers had a long-distance face-off with the tribe in their latest bid to locate the body of 27-year-old John Allen Chau on the remote island of Andaman and Nicobar, police said on Sunday.

The police team, who took a boat just off Indian-owned North Sentinel island on Saturday, spotted men from the Sentinelese tribe on the beach where John Allen Chau was last seen, the region's police chief Dependra Pathak had informed.

Using binoculars, officers -- in a police boat about 400 metres from the shore -- saw the men armed with bows and arrows, the weapons reportedly used by the isolated tribe.

The death of the 27-year-old on November 17 has cast a new spotlight on efforts to protect one of the world's last "uncontacted" tribes whose language and customs remain a mystery to outsiders.

(With input from agencies)