Norway Issues Lookout Notice Against Indian-Origin Man linked To Pager Blasts In Lebanon

Police in Norway have issued an international search warrant for a 39-year-old Norwegian Indian man, Rinson Jose, in connection with the sale of pagers to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group.

The pagers exploded last week, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people. Jose, the founder of a Bulgarian company allegedly involved in the pager supply chain, disappeared during a work trip to the U.S. last week, reported The Guardian.

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Oslo police confirmed the search, stating, "Yesterday, the Oslo police district received a missing person report in connection with the pager case. A missing persons case has been opened and we have sent out an international warrant for the person."

Jose was contacted by Reuters on September 18 but refused to comment on the pagers and hung up when asked about his Bulgarian company. He has since failed to respond to repeated calls and messages.

DN Media Group, his employer, mentioned that Jose, who works in their sales department, left for a conference in Boston on September 17 and has been unreachable since the following day.

Jose established Norta Global Ltd in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2022. While Bulgarian authorities investigated the company's role in supplying the pagers, no evidence was found linking the production or export of the devices to Bulgaria.

The pager explosions, for which Israel has been blamed, killed 12 people, including two children, and injured up to 2,800 others.

The following day, an additional 25 people were killed, and over 450 were wounded in a separate incident involving exploding walkie-talkies in Lebanese supermarkets, funerals, and streets.