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Police in Bali have deliberately shot and wounded five men they said formed a criminal gang that specialized in burglarizing houses occupied by foreigners on the island, a Denpasar police official admitted Friday.

“They were attempting to escape and we decided to shoot them. Their main targets are foreign tourists,” said Police Chief Sr. Comr. Gede Alit Widana.

He said that the men were shot in the leg as they tried to escape.

The gang members all came from Palembang in South Sumatra, Alit said, identifying them as Andi Irawan, Zulkarnaen, Rusli, Arbain and Fikri Anang.

Widana said four of the suspects were arrested as they were about to board a Batavia Air flight at Ngurah Rai Airport on Wednesday. The other one was arrested in Kuta earlier.

Police started hunting for the men by tracking their car’s license plate after they had robbed a house at the Graha Pesona housing complex in Denpasar. A witness had noted the number.

“From the first suspect we arrested, we obtained information about the other four, who were staying at a hotel. But when we arrived at the hotel, they had already checked out. Finally, they were arrested at the airport,” Widana said.

The suspects told police investigators that they had been in Bali for just three days but had managed to rob seven houses, mostly belonging to foreigners.

Police confiscated evidence worth around Rp 1 billion ($107,000), including gold jewelry, watches, United States dollars and Chinese yuan, as well as electronic gadgets.

Police also confiscated a car and three motorbikes the suspects had allegedly used in their operation.

The group reportedly conducted their acts during daylight, coming by car and breaking in only after ascertaining that the houses were empty.

“We are still investigating the case so there is the possibility that the number of victims could increase,” Widana said.

In the latest crimes to befall foreigners in Bali, an Australian national identified as Simon Klen, lost two video cameras after two men on a motorcycle broke into his parked car in Sawangan, Nusa Dua.

At the end of January, two foreign tourists also became victims of similar crimes. Andrea Martinello, an Italian citizen, lost Rp 13 million worth of valuables after her car window was smashed. Jablons Kihans Joachimhorstenil, a German citizen, lost his laptop which had been in his parked car. His car’s window were also smashed in the break-in.