(Image source from: thenewsminute.com)

The death of American Christian missionary John Chau’s in Andaman earlier this year has led to untold speculations but now police are making an effort to determine what happened in his final days.

The 26-year-old’s mission was to go to the North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal and home to the Sentinelese people, who are among the world’s last uncontacted tribes.

A piece of crucial evidence for the police in the probe is John’s 13-page journal, which he wrote in right up until November 16. As per sources, it is believed he has been killed by the Sentinelese tribe on November 17, when he made an attempt to make contact with them over again after a distressing encounter the previous day, where tribes attacked him. In his journal entry from November 14, John cites two people, who the police are looking to investigate now.

Writing from a “safe house” in Port Blair, John’s second line of the said entry reads, “Bobby and Christian left five days ago and it was such an encouragement to see them.”

The Andaman police are probing if these two people were acquaintances who assisted John plan the mission to the North Sentinel Island, where no one is permitted to enter unless they acquire certain permissions from the authorities. Police also think that John made a plan to stay on the island for quite a lot of days.

Andaman DGP told The News Minute that they were investigating daily activities of John Chau, including his meetings with two American nationals, Bobbie Stratman and Christian Vaughan.

While John’s Instagram profile makes it clear-cut that he was an adventure enthusiast, Christian’s profile seems to indicate likewise. In fact, photos from 2015 show that Christian and John went to Mount Cook in New Zealand together. The captions of Christian’s photos show a similar interest in Christianity as John.

Following John’s death, Christian also spoke to the Scottish Daily Mail, referring to John as “heroic” and “selfless”. “He was heroic - he would always lead from the front. He was selfless and one of the most interesting men I have ever met. He was just a very brave man,” Christian told the publication.

Andaman DGP Dependra Pathak told The News Minute that ‘Bobby’ who met John before November 14 is a woman in her 50s.

The police will as well investigate whether John and his acquaintances had visas that permitted them to do missionary activities.

Most of the efforts made to contact Sentinelese was in vain and consequently met with hostility. No missionary has ever got close enough to win over to them. Nevertheless, Chau took this as a challenge, but he was killed shortly after arrival, his body visible from a distance on the beach. Indian police refrained from retrieving it.

By Sowmya Sangam