The Sentinel Islands in Andamans is home to an unknown tribe who have shunned all contact with civilization. They are said to number about 150 with many of them wiped out in the 2006 Tsunami. American tourist John Allen Chau had bribed local fishermen to take him into the restricted territory and when he landed there he was greeted by a volley of arrows fired by the tribesmen. The fishermen who took him there escaped and told a local preacher who then informed the police and Chau's family in the US.

Initially the local police in Andamans claimed that Chau was a Christian missionary who had gone to convert the tribe into Christianity but it has now come to light that he "was on a misplaced adventure in (a) prohibited area to meet uncontacted persons".