Indian police are investigating the role of two Americans who they say encouraged missionary John Chau to trespass onto the forbidden island of North Sentinel, where he was killed by members of an isolated tribe.
Chau was killed Nov. 17 after illegally visiting the island in a bid to convert members of the uncontacted hunter-gatherer tribe who dwell there to Christianity.
His diary entries revealed that he tried to enter the island twice but was scared off by the tribe. It’s believed he was killed by arrow-wielding tribespeople after his third attempt to make contact with them.
READ MORE: India halts mission to recover missionary John Chau’s body from remote island
On Saturday, the head of police for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory — where North Sentinel is located — told AFP that two American missionaries, a man and a woman, had likely encouraged Chau’s trip.
He said the pair had left India.
He said investigators traced calls made to Chau’s phone to the two Americans, who he said had “local mobile numbers.”
WATCH: Diary reveals final hours before American missionary killed on remote Indian island
Indian news outlet The News Minute reported that Pathak confirmed that police were investigating Chau’s meetings with his fellow American missionaries.
According to The News Minute, the names of two people mentioned in Chau’s diary appeared to match those of an American man and woman with known ties to missionary organizations.
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