Peru’s government has said the fatal shooting of an Indonesian embassy official in Lima on Monday night was likely a “contract killing”.
Zetro Leonardo Purba, 40, an official at the Indonesian embassy in Peru, was shot dead outside his block of flats in Lima’s Lince neighbourhood while riding a bicycle home from work on Monday evening.
Security camera footage seen by the Guardian shows the assassin shooting the victim at point-blank range then directly in the head when he fell to the ground before escaping on the back of a waiting motorcycle. Video images show Purba’s wife at his side before he was taken to hospital where he later died.
The public prosecutor’s office and the police homicide squad were investigating the crime. Police said they were examining footage that shows the motorbike and suspects loitering around Purba’s residence, apparently waiting for the victim before the crime and during previous days.
The murder has shocked and angered Peruvians. While the country has seen a rise in extortion and contract killings, foreigners are rarely targeted. More than 1,500 homicides have been recorded so far in 2025, according to Peru’s public deaths registry, Sinadef, an increase of more than 20% compared with the same period the year before.
The interior minister, Carlos Malaver, described the incident as a contract killing.
“Nothing was stolen from him, they were waiting for him and the bullets hit him in the head … We are not ruling anything out,” he said on Tuesday while addressing Peru’s congress on rising crime figures.
“There are criminal acts that cannot always be prevented.”
Peru’s foreign ministry expressed “heartfelt condolences and condemnation of this despicable act”. It added in its statement that the Peruvian foreign minister, Elmer Schialer, had on Monday night attended the hospital where Purba died and had offered to “double police protection” for the staff at the Indonesian embassy.
Indonesia’s foreign minister, Sugiono, confirmed in Jakarta that Purba was a chancery officer at the embassy in Lima and had been working in Peru for five months. He described the victim as a “highly dedicated employee”. Purba leaves behind a wife and three young children.
“I expressed my deepest condolences,” Sugiono said. He added that he was communicating with Schialer and had requested that “the investigation be conducted thoroughly, transparently and quickly, as well as ensuring the best possible protection for diplomatic personnel and Indonesian citizens in Peru”.
