Port Blair, July 7, 2020: The Andaman and Nicobar Police would soon issue a summon letter via the Ministry of External Affairs to examine Colorado-based Bobbie Par and Tennessee-based Christian in connection with American tourist John Allen Chau murder case. Chau was killed by the Sentinelese tribe in the Archipelago in November 2018.
Investigation in the case revealed that both Parks and Christian are members of the All Nations Church. “We will soon send a summon letter to Bobbie Parks and Christian to join us in the ongoing probe in American tourist John Allen Chau death case,” said Director General of Police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dependra Pathak.
“I have asked a concerned officer to prepare a letter to call them for examinations under the provision of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). The letter will be routed through MEA. Their statements are very important in this case because as per the circumstantial evidence it seems that John Allen Chau was reluctant to visit the Sentinel Island and he was brainwashed to go there,” Pathak said.
Parks and Christian left Port Blair on November 10, 2018, before having a couple of meetings with John Allen Chau. After a few days, John went to the Sentinel Island and there he was murdered. It seems that John Allen Chau was brainwashed as he was reluctant to visit the Island, Pathak added.
In the context of COVID-19 norms, while summoning the two American Nationals, Pathak said, “yes, we are aware of that and there are many ways to examine a person under MLAT. Their examination is very crucial in this case and we hope that they will cooperate with us in our probe.”
The Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws.
It was learnt that the local fishermen and his friends who accompanied John to somewhere near the Island told sleuths that he was confused and indecisive about visiting the island.
The investigator suspects that John was persuaded in between December 5 to 10, 2018 to visit the Sentinel Island.
According to the police, John was supposed to have left for the North Sentinel island but had to postpone the plan to November 15, 2018, due to bad weather.
The access to North Sentinel Island and its buffer zone is strictly prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under Indian Forest Act, 1927.
The case of John’s murder had sent ripples across the country and the international community given that no one before had attempted to contact the world’s last pre-Neolithic tribe – Sentinelese. The case had also raised several questions of marine security.
On November 17, 2018, around 6.30 AM, John’s fishermen friends saw John’s body being dragged and getting buried by the unknown persons near the shore.
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