An American man who visited a remote Andaman island has been killed by its isolated community of bow-and-arrow wielding hunter-gatherers, Indian police said.

Travel for any purpose to the North Sentinel island is banned, both to protect its inhabitants and because they have been known to attack outsiders in the past.

The American visitor has been identified by news agencies as John Allen Chau, 27, and the US consulate in India’s southern city of Chennai said it was “aware of reports concerning a US citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands”.

Indian media reports described Mr Chau as an adventure tourist who had visited the Andaman island chain multiple times in the past. One unnamed police source told the Reuters news agency Mr Chau had shown a strong desire to meet the Sentinelese.

He was ferried to the island by fishermen whose dinghy he chartered, according to police. Vijay Singh, a police official on the island chain, said seven men had been arrested on suspicion of helping Mr Chau reach North Sentinel.

Police are now investigating and a murder case has been opened, officials said. Indian media reported that Mr Chau had been found dead by the fishermen, but Mr Singh said police were still in the process of recovering the body.