Police on Jarawa video: Man ordering women to dance not a cop

Police on Friday claimed that the person who was shown in a video footage ordering semi-naked Jarawa tribal women in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to dance before tourists was not a policeman.

"A close examination of the video clippings telecast by TV channels revealed that the person in camouflaged uniform is not a policeman," Andaman and Nicobar DGP, SB Deol said.

The video was shot by unknown persons on Andaman Trunk Road by enticing the Jarawa women and children to violate the law, he said.

London-based newspaper Observer had recently reported the incident and uploaded the video.

Police have already registered a case against those involved in filming the video while the government has also ordered a probe into reports of Jarawa women being allegedly made to dance and parade for tourists' entertainment.

During the last five years, police have arrested more than 1000 persons for having illegally interacted with the protected Jarawa tribe, they said.

The Jarawas, estimated to be around 400 in population, live in the reserve forests on south Andamans and have largely shun contact with the outside world.

Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, 1956, any attempt to contact Jarawas, photographing them, stopping vehicles while transiting through their land or offering them rides is a punishable offence.