YouTuber arrested after leaving isolated tribe can of Diet Coke
Topics: Crime, US News, World News, News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/@MykhailoViktorovychPolyakov
Topics: Crime, US News, World News, News
American social media star Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov has found himself in trouble with the law after allegedly making an unwelcome offering during a visit to a restricted territory.
The 24-year-old embarked on a voyage to the North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean back in March, an island belonging to the Sentinelese people - an indigenous tribe who live in voluntary isolation, according to police.
The group are renowned by researchers for defending their land - often by force - in a bid to protect their isolation from the outside world.
During the trip, YouTube star Polyakov is accused of having attempted contact with the potentially-dangerous tribe, using a GPS to bring him to the island.
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According to NBC News, he surveyed the land using binoculars for several hours before arriving on the shore.
The content creator is then said to have remained on the beach for around an hour, where he blew a whistle to attract the tribe's attention.
He received no response, however, and began to gather his belongings.
It was then that an idea dawned on Polyakov - to leave a parting gift, police said.
All the internet sensational had upon his person at the time, however, was a can of Diet Coke and a coconut - both of which he left upon the sand as an offering, police have said.
The YouTuber also recorded a number of videos on the island, and allegedly collected samples of the rocks and sand upon the shore.
In the days that followed his voyage, however, Arizona-born Polyakov was arrested by Indian police for visiting the restricted territory.
He was apprehended by officers Port Blair - the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands - after a hoard of local fisherman noticed he was heading directly for the North Sentinel Island, and reported him to the authorities.
The case against him alleges that Polyakov violated Indian laws that disallow any outsiders from interacting with the protected islanders.
Investigating officers told press that the social media personality was found to have looked into both sea and tidal conditions before embarking on his journey, and Googled possible accessibility to the island.
Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal - a Senior Police Officer - made a statement explaining: "He planned meticulously over several days to visit the island and make a contact with the Sentinel tribe."
An additional statement given to NBC News alleges that Polyakov 'posed a serious threat to the safety and well-being of the Sentinelese people, whose contact with outsiders is strictly prohibited by the law to protect their indigenous way of life.'
Polyakov's alleged antics have also been slammed by Caroline Pearce - the director of Survival International, whose charity protects the rights of indigenous people.
Citing the tribe's susceptibility to disease, she added of the YouTuber on the firm's official website: "This person’s actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk.
"The Sentinelese have made their wish to avoid outsiders incredibly clear over the years.”
A US State Department spokesperson has since spoken out on Polyakov's arrest.
"The Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad," the message stated.
"We are aware of reports of the detention of a U.S. citizen in India. We take our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously and are monitoring the situation."
Polyakov has been charged with entering a prohibited zone.