Who Is Rinson Jose, The Businessman Associated With Pager Blasts?

Rinson Jose, an Indian emigrant to Norway, is connected to the Hezbollah pager blasts in Lebanon that resulted in 12 fatalities. Reports indicate that his Bulgaria-based company, Norta Global, may have been involved in supplying the pagers used in the attacks.

Born in Wayanad, Kerala, Rinson Jose moved to Norway a few years ago for higher studies, briefly working in London before returning to Oslo. His relatives shared that he is settled there with his wife and has a twin brother in London.

“We speak daily, but we haven’t been in touch with him for the last three days. He’s straightforward and we trust him completely; he wouldn’t be involved in any wrongdoing. He might have been caught up in these blasts,” said his relative, Thankachen.

Rinson Jose founded Norta Global Ltd in April 2022, based in Sofia, Bulgaria, reporting a revenue of $725,000 (around ₹6 crore) from consulting activities outside the EU last year.

His LinkedIn indicates he worked nearly five years in digital customer support for Norwegian press group DN Media. DN Media informed Verdens Gang that he has been on an overseas work trip since Tuesday and has been unreachable.

The Bulgarian state security agency DANS stated on Friday that the pagers involved in the Lebanon blasts were neither imported, exported, nor manufactured in Bulgaria. They clarified that Rinson Jose’s company had not engaged in any transactions related to the sale or purchase of the pagers, nor did they fall under laws concerning terrorism financing.