Norway Issues International Search Requests For Figures Allegedly Related To Pager Explosions In Lebanon

Explosion pager in Lebanon. (Twitter/@RRespawned)

JAKARTA - The Norwegian police have issued an international search request for Rinson Jose, a Norwegian-Indian man suspected of being linked to selling the pager to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, they said on Thursday.

Jose (39) disappeared while on a work trip to the United States last week. He is the founder of a Bulgarian company that is reportedly part of the supply chain of pagers.

When asked what they were doing to find Jose, police said in an email to Reuters: "Yesterday, September 25, Oslo's police district received reports of missing persons related to the pager case," as quoted September 27.

"The case of missing persons has been opened and we have sent an international warrant for the person," he added.

Norwegian criminal police, Kripos, which handles international requests, confirmed to Reuters the request had been sent, but declined to elaborate.

When someone goes missing overseas, Kripos will usually issue a global warning, or the so-called "Yellow Notice", but can also contact its foreign partners directly depending on the circumstances, a Kripos spokesperson told Reuters.

Norwegian security police (PST) also launched an investigation earlier this week on reports of a Norwegian-owned company related to the sale of pagers.

Meanwhile, Interpol was not immediately available for comment.

Previously, Jose declined to comment on the pager when contacted by telephone last Wednesday (18/9) and closed the phone when asked about Bulgaria's business. He did not reply to phone calls and text messages repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the company he works for in Norway, DN Media Group said he went to a conference in Boston on September 17, and the company has not been able to contact him since September 18. He works in the group's sales department.

In 2022, Jose founded Norta Global Ltd. company, based in Sofia, as shown by the list of Bulgarian companies.

Bulgaria has investigated the company's role in providing trapkeepers, but found no evidence that the pager was made or exported from the country.

Lebanon was rocked by explosions of thousands of pagers and two-day walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

The device that exploded was used by Hezbollah militants. As a result, at least 39 people were killed and thousands injured.

The attack is widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.