Australians Attacked in Bali; Police Searching For Suspects
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA/DENPASAR (Worthy News) – An Australian man was shot and killed, and another Australian man was injured on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali, prompting a police search for two suspects, local officials said Saturday.
The shooting incident occurred shortly after midnight Saturday at the Villa Casa Santisya near Munggu Beach in Badung regency, on the southern side of the island, police told reporters.
Police Chief Arif Batubara identified the deceased victim as Zivan Radmanovic, 32, from Melbourne. The second victim, named publicly only as Sanar G, 35, was seriously wounded after being punched, he added.
The victims were rushed to Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, the provincial capital, but medical help came too late for one man, officials confirmed.
“We cannot yet determine the motive for this shooting and also who the perpetrator is until our investigation is complete,” Batubara stressed. He added that the violence is under investigation and that police are looking for witnesses.
Yet the shooting occurred while Bali was attempting to overcome the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, when tourism plunged, and aimed to promote itself as a peaceful alternative to other tourism destinations.
Security has increased as Bali attempts to overcome past terrorism, including in October 2002 when three bombs were detonated, two in Bali’s busy Kuta Beach nightspots and one in front of the American consulate in nearby Denpasar.
Shattering Australia’s sense of distance from the global reach of terrorism, the explosions killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, authorities said.
Carried out by Jemaah Islamiyah, a South-East Asian Islamic group with links to designated terror organization al-Qaida, the attacks were the most significant loss of Australian life due to an act of terror.
Yet since then, Australians have returned and are still the most frequent visitors to Bali, with 344,639 people in January, February, and March, followed by China with 136,210 arrivals and India with 120,887 arrivals over that same period, migration authorities said.
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