HULU LANGAT: The nondescript resort chalet was bereft of activity and could have been mistaken for an abandoned estate if not for its well-kept, clean look and the occasional person carrying out some maintenance work.
To get to the chalet, one would have to travel through a 2km-long private road that is as quiet as
the chalet, fringed by secondary forests on either side. There are other resorts scattered along the way, but they are quiet, too.
It was this quietness and isolation that the group of people who checked in to the resort counted on to carry out their "work".
That night on Sept 28 would have been a stark contrast to yesterday when the New Straits Times visited the resort.
The nearest development is about 1km away.
The group, from their appearances, would have looked like a bunch of locals getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life to soak in the calm of a resort on
the jungle fringes, buoyed by the sounds of birds, monkeys and other denizens of the wild, perhaps taking a dip in the swimming pool or at the little waterfall nearby.
Anyone thinking that, however, would have been wrong. They were, indeed, Malaysians, but they were not there for a break or to recharge.
These locals were agents of Israel's infamous intelligence agency, Mossad.
The resort was where they brought one of their two Palestinian targets after they abducted him.
They had booked a room at the back of the resort, facing the jungle, so that they could go about their business without being observed.
The NST followed what would have been their trail and saw that the local Mossad operatives, travelling in two cars, would have had to drag their victim — believed to be a Hamas IT expert — from one of the vehicles, up a flight of stairs, to a 400 sq ft room.
There, he was bound, tortured and interrogated, including by two Israeli men, believed to be Mossad operatives, via video call.
In the 24 hours he was subjected to this ordeal, he suffered considerably, sustaining injuries to the head, body and legs.
There is no doubt that if the local Mossad agents had managed to kidnap the other Palestinian, whom they had mistakenly left out when they made the grab, he would have suffered the same fate.
The victim was fortunate, however, that police had been alerted to what had happened and investigations led them to the resort.
In an operation codenamed Op Scorpion, a police team raided the compound and freed the Palestinian.
A spokesman for the resort told the NST that "anonymous people" had been "checking up" on the premises ever since it was linked to the case.
He said the resort has been bombarded on social media with comments linking their operations with the incident.
He said the staff's job was only to facilitate bookings for guests. Beyond that, they have no further details regarding the guests.
"We have no idea what guests do and we have no control over it," said the spokesman, adding that the resort has been losing customers, with several guests having cancelled their bookings since the resort was connected to the case.