Rinson Jose, originally from India’s Kerala and now a Norwegian citizen, is embroiled in an international investigation related to pager blasts targeting Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, which killed 12 and injured thousands.
An initial report on NDTV reported that Jose moved from Wayanad to Norway to obtain higher education and became a citizen there.
Initial reports suggested that a Bulgarian company owned by the 37-year-old supplied the pagers to the militant group. These devices, allegedly modified by Mossad to contain three grams of explosives each, were reportedly manufactured by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. However, Gold Apollo clarified that the AR-924 model used in the blasts was manufactured and sold by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, which had permission to use its trademark.
The Bulgarian state security agency, DANS, later identified Norta Global Ltd., a company registered in Sofia in 2022 and owned by Jose, as part of its investigation. However, two days after the blasts, DANS clarified that the implicated pagers were neither imported, exported, nor manufactured in Bulgaria. They confirmed that the company and Jose had not engaged in any transactions related to selling or purchasing the pagers and had not violated any terrorism financing laws.
Read: How Pagers Became Bombs in Lebanon: Israel’s Alleged Involvement Explained
In light of these events, police in Oslo, Norway, have started a preliminary investigation. Jose worked in London before returning to Oslo, where he is currently employed in digital customer support for DN Media. DN Media has reported that they have been unable to reach him since he went on a work trip on Tuesday.
Jose’s relatives, including a twin brother residing in London, insist he is straightforward and unlikely to engage in wrongdoing. They suspect he may have been inadvertently involved in the incident. They have expressed concern, noting they have been unable to contact Jose or his wife for the past three days.
