The Norwegian police on Friday issued an international search request for Rinson Jose, a 39-year-old Norwegian-Indian businessman, after he went missing during a work trip to the US last week, confirmed officials.
The Kerala-born man is linked to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant outfit, which exploded last week killing 39 and wounding thousands of people in Lebanon. The incident came in the backdrop of Israel’s widened strikes in Lebanon targeting the Hezbollah positions.
Jose is a founder of a Bulgarian company that was reportedly part of the pager supply chain, reported Reuters. The Norwegian criminal police, Kripos, which handles international requests, confirmed that a request for international search has been sent, but declined to elaborate on the details.
Was Jose Behind Pager Blasts?
Jose founded the company Norta Global Ltd, a company registered in Bulgaria and is believed to have supplied the pager explosives to Lebanon.
While the pagers were manufactured by a Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting, under the trademark of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, they were purportedly acquired through Norta Global.
Bulgaria has investigated the company’s role in the supply of booby-trapped pagers, but has found no evidence that they were made or exported from the country.
Norway’s security police (PST) also launched a preliminary investigation earlier this week into reports that a Norwegian-owned company was linked to the sale of the pagers.
Over two days last week, thousands of pagers, as well as walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah operatives, blew up in Lebanon, killing and injuring thousands.
The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
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