‘Indian citizen’ involved in deadly pager blasts in Lebanon: report

A series of explosions rocked Lebanon on September 17 and 18, killing 32 people and injuring thousands.

The blasts were triggered by 4,000 pagers exploding within an hour, causing widespread panic among civilians and Hezbollah members who use these devices.

Investigations have revealed that Hezbollah purchased the pagers from Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, which claimed to have licensed the Hungarian company BAC Consulting to manufacture and sell the devices.

However, the Bulgarian company Norta Global Limited, registered in Sofia in 2022 and run by Indian-Norwegian citizen Rinson Jose, has been implicated in the blasts.

Norta Global reported revenue of $725,000 (approximately INR6 crore) in 2023.

Bulgaria’s security agency DANS is cooperating with the Ministry of Interior to investigate Norta Global’s role in the blasts.

The Navarre police have also initiated an investigation into the matter. Relatives of Rinson Jose, from India’s Kerala, claimed that he is innocent and may have been framed, as he went to Oslo two years ago for education.

The explosions have raised concerns about the involvement of foreign entities in the blasts, with some sources suggesting Israeli involvement.

However, no official statement was made by the offensive occupation.