NEW DELHI: Bulgaria has announced an investigation against a Malayali-owned company in connection with the explosion of pagers in Lebanon. A preliminary investigation has revealed that the pagers were handed over to Hezbollah by Norta Global Limited, a local company based in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
Following this further investigation was started. It is reported that the company is owned by Rinson Jose, a native of Wayanad Mananthavadi and a Norwegian citizen. In his LinkedIn account, it is stated that Rinson is working in the digital field. It also states that there is interest in automation, marketing, AI etc. Norta Global was established in April 2022.
The Bulgarian State Security Agency says it is working with the Interior Ministry to investigate the role of the Bulgarian-registered company in the series of bombings. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian State Security Agency informs that it has not been able to find that the pagers were imported into Bulgaria.
The pagers were reportedly handed over to Hezbollah by BAC Consulting, a shell company based in Hungary, acting as an intermediary. The company is believed to be the brainchild of the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Hungarian authorities were already suspicious of the company, which has no office or factory.
BAC Consulting reportedly took the initiative to manufacture thousands of pagers for the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. Pagers were made for Hezbollah earlier this year. According to the report, the shell companies were created to hide the real information of the people who made the pagers.
The role of the Mossad behind the attacks has been reported, including by the international media, but Israel has not yet commented on the matter. The report also points out that Israel tried to eliminate the threat of Hezbollah through different means.