KOZHIKODE: A man from Wayanad who briefly trained for clerics before migrating to Norway in search of greener pastures has emerged as an alleged link in Tuesday’s sensational fence blast in Lebanon where he was targeted. Hezbollah fighters and killed 12 people, including civilians, and wounded dozens.
Norta Global Ltd, based in Sofia, Bulgaria – allegedly owned by Rinson Jose (37) Wayanad, now a Norwegian citizen – is being investigated by international security agencies after reports linking it to the sale of hundreds of fences.
See also: Hezbollah fence, walkie-talkies were booby-trapped before entering Lebanon
Last spoke to family 3 days ago
The central intelligence agency and special branch of the Kerala Police gathered details on Friday about Rinson from his native village, Ondayangadi, near Mananthavady, Wayanad. Wayanad Police Chief Taposh Basumathary said that the police had conducted a normal background check. “Now that the identity and details of the family have come out in the media, the police have taken steps to ensure that they are safe. We are patrolling the area,” he said.
Family sources said Rinson, son of Moothedath Jose and Gracy, who used to work as a seamstress, had gone abroad with his twin brother, who was now working in England. His sister is a nurse in Ireland. He lives in Norway with his wife and finally came home in Nov 2023 and returned in Jan 2024.
“Rinson last spoke to his family here three days ago. They have not been able to reach him on the phone since then. We tried to call Rinson’s wife on Friday as well, but no one answered. News reports about him are not reliable; he may have been lied to ,” Rinson’s uncle, Thankachan, told TOI.
Is Norta linked to the purchase of fences?
Hungarian media reported that Norta Global had facilitated the sale of the fence. The company’s website – described as a leading technology company with a focus on consulting, payment technology and integration, recruitment & outsourcing – has now been taken down.
However, Bulgaria’s National Security Agency said that Norta Global and its owners “did not carry out any transactions related to the sale or purchase of merchandise” or “which are within the law on the financing of terrorism”.
Reuters had reported on Thursday that Norta’s Bulgarian headquarters was listed in an apartment building near Sofia that is also home to nearly 200 other companies, but there was no sign of Norta.
Reuters said Rinson declined to comment over the fence when reached by phone and hung up when asked about his Bulgarian business.
Amund Djuve, CEO of DN Media, where Jose currently works, told Reuters he was aware of the report and had alerted the police and security services. They said Jose was traveling to the US.
Oslo police said they had started “preliminary monitoring of the information they have come to know”. Norway’s domestic intelligence agency, PST, said it was aware of the situation and declined to comment further, Reuters reported.
According to Rinson’s LinkedIn page, he has worked at Oslo-based DN Media Group in Norway for nearly five years and has been involved in digitization, automation, and growth across multiple brands/publications. Besides calling himself an entrepreneur who has run NortaLink, an IT services, consulting, procurement and recruitment company since 2016, he is also the founder of IT recruitment and business development company and IT recruitment company StarCruiter. Rinson has pursued a master’s degree in social welfare and international health policy at Oslo Metropolitan University from 2012 to 2015. The profile also says that he was the secretary general of the International Student Union of Norway for one year from September 2012.
See also: Satellite snipers, poison, fences and walkie-talkie explosions: How the Mossad can kill Israel’s enemies
A boy who can do no wrong
In Ondayangadi, residents of the area know that Rinson is an honest man, while his shocked family said he would never do anything wrong. Rinson’s uncle, Thankachan, said Rinson studied at Ondayangadi school, then entered a seminary for a year, then continued his studies in Wayanad and Bengaluru. He had worked in a call center in Bengaluru and earned an MBA from Pondicherry in 2010 before moving to Norway for higher studies. He said he didn’t know Rinson had a company there. “He is an employee of an organization… His family is not like that. Even now, his parents do work at home,” he said.