Beirut, September 21, 2024 – International media reports have surfaced suggesting that an Indian citizen may be involved in the recent pager explosions in Lebanon. On September 17, Israel allegedly hacked Hezbollah’s communication system, causing the batteries of pager devices used by the organization to explode. The blasts resulted in the deaths of over 20 people, including women and children, and left around 2,500 others injured, including an Iranian diplomat.
According to sources, Hezbollah had imported 5,000 pagers from Taiwan six months ago. Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, was reportedly aware of this shipment in advance and is alleged to have planted explosives in the pager batteries during the manufacturing process.
Two days after the explosions, the name of a Bulgarian company, Notra Global, emerged. The Bulgarian security agency, DANS, announced an investigation into the company’s potential role in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior.
Notra Global, registered in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2022, is run by Indian citizen Rinson Jose. The company reported a revenue of $725,000 (approximately 60 million Indian Rupees) in 2023.
DANS clarified the following day that the pagers destroyed in Lebanon were neither imported from nor manufactured in Bulgaria. Their investigation found no transactions involving the Norwegian company’s owner that would indicate involvement in terrorism under Bulgarian law.
Following this, Norwegian authorities also launched an investigation after the Norwegian company’s name came to light.
Indian media reported that Rinson Jose, originally from Kerala, India, had moved to Oslo, Norway, two years ago for his studies. His family expressed confidence in his innocence, stating that Rinson is a reputable individual who could not be involved in such activities and that he may have been falsely implicated.
On his Founders Nation profile, Rinson Jose describes himself as a businessman focused on collaboration, leveraging his experience in startups and multinational corporations.
