Norway issues international search request for person linked to exploding pagers

OSLO (Reuters) -Norwegian police have issued an international search request for Rinson Jose, a Norwegian-Indian man linked to the sale of pagers to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, they said on Thursday.

Jose, 39, disappeared while on a work trip to the U.S. last week. He is a founder of a Bulgarian company that was reportedly part of the pager supply chain.

Asked what they were doing to find Jose, police said in an email to Reuters: "Yesterday, Sept. 25, the Oslo police district received a missing person report in connection with the pager case."

"A missing persons case has been opened, and we have sent out an international warrant for the person," it added.

The Norwegian criminal police, Kripos, which handles international requests, confirmed to Reuters that the request has been sent, declining to elaborate.

When a person is missing abroad, Kripos would normally issue a global alert, or so-called "yellow notice", but could also contact its foreign counterparts directly depending on circumstances, its spokesperson told Reuters earlier.

Interpol was not immediately available for comment.

Jose declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone last Wednesday, Sept. 18, and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business. He did not return repeated calls and text messages.

Jose's Norwegian employer, DN Media Group, said he left for a conference in Boston on Sept. 17, and the company has not been able to reach him since Sept. 18. He works at the group's sales department.

In 2022, Jose founded Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd, Bulgaria's corporate registry shows.

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 a two-day period last week, thousands of pagers, as well as walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah operatives, blew up in Lebanon, killing at least 39 people and wounding thousands.

The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Kevin Liffey, David Gregorio and Sharon Singleton)