KUALA LUMPUR: Police are working to detect foreign intelligence operatives, including Malaysians hired by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, conducting clandestine operations in the country.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said efforts have been in full swing since the assassination of Fadi Mohamed al-Batsh, a Palestinian professor and member of Hamas, in Kuala Lumpur in 2018, as well as the arrest of a group behind the kidnapping Palestinians in Malaysia.
"The Criminal Investigation Department and Special Branch are looking into that.
"After the shooting of Fadi (al-Batsh) in Setapak and after we arrested 26 people for kidnapping a Palestinian, we began looking into it.
"We believe locals are being used. We suspect Israelis may have infiltrated the country using foreign passports for their operations," he said, citing al-Batsh's killers as an example of operatives working under the cover of another nationality.
Razarudin advised Malaysian private investigators to exercise caution and resist foreign offers to help apprehend Palestinians or religious experts, including those from Pakistan or India, living in Malaysia.
Touching on similar cases last year, he said a female operative, whom he described as a "freelancer", had been hired to kidnap a Palestinian.
The woman and 13 others were charged with kidnapping.
He said the woman had travelled to several countries, including France, Thailand, Italy and the Philippines, as a Mossad agent.
Her involvement with the agency was revealed when the kidnap victim heard the woman speaking Hebrew during his abduction. The victim heard her speak to people from different countries, including Austria, France and Finland.
Razarudin said the group had aimed to kidnap two Palestinians, but could only catch one.
His revelation confirmed a New Straits Times exclusive report on the incident last year.
the NST revealed that Mossad agents had engaged Malaysians to track down and abduct two Palestinian men they believed to be assets of the Hamas al-Qassam Brigade.
In a brazen snatch-and-grab operation in KL, the team intercepted the two Palestinians on Sept 28 when the duo, both computer programming experts, were about to enter a vehicle parked near Jalan Yap Kwan Seng.
They succeeded in abducting one, while the other Palestinian escaped to seek help from security guards at a hotel lobby. He later lodged a police report.
The abducted Palestinian was taken to another location, where he was tied to a chair, bound and blindfolded. He was then put on a video call with two Israelis.
It is learnt the Israelis wanted to know about his experience in computer application development, Hamas' strength in developing software, members of the Al-Qassam Brigade that he knew and their strengths.
It is learnt the interrogation was ongoing when police raided the chalet where the Palestinian was held.