Jarawa case: Duo who arranged video recording held

Days after a controversial video surfaced showing Jarawa women dancing semi-naked before tourists, the Andaman and Nicobar police have arrested two persons in connection with the case.

This is the first arrests made in the case.

The police in a statement in Port Blair said that Rajesh Vyas, owner of a gift shop, and Guddu, a taxi driver, were arrested after it was found that the duo allegedly help tourists visit the protected land for Jarawas and arrange video recording of these people.

The police investigation found that the duo allegedly took tourists to different places to Middle Strait through Andaman Trunk Road which passes through the land of Jarawas.

A London-based newspaper had recently reported about a video showing semi-naked Jarawa women dancing in front of tourists.

They used to allegedly take money from foreign tourists on the pretext that it had to be paid to the police, sources said.

The police have been questioning several tour operators and taxi drivers of Port Blair to track down the source of video, officials said.

Vehicles passing through Andaman Trunk Road are being screened by the investigating team. They have also raided several CD or souvenir shops here to recover any offensive video concerning the Jarawas.

Andaman Police had registered a case on January 12 against unnamed persons in connection with the shooting and uploading of the video under the Indian Penal Code,

Information and Technology Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and Protection of Aboriginal Tribes.

Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes (PAT) Act, taking pictures or video shooting of tribals is banned.