Large-scale operation at Hambacher Forest: police search for sabotage suspect in vain
Around 100 police vehicles searched the Hambacher Forest near Kerpen for a 48-year-old suspect – without success. The man is suspected of carrying out attacks on transformer stations.
Hunt at Hambacher Forest unsuccessful – large-scale operation after sabotage acts concluded
With up to 100 vehicles, police searched the Hambacher Forest near Kerpen, west of Cologne, for a 48-year-old suspect – without result. As deutschlandfunk.de reports, the search measures began on Sunday midday and were called off again at around 7pm. A spokesman for Cologne police told dpa that no clues had been found. However, the general manhunt for the suspect continues.
The man is accused of carrying out several sabotage attacks on the German power grid. He is suspected of sending letters claiming responsibility which, according to Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), indicated "perpetrator knowledge". Investigators had published a wanted notice with two photographs of the suspect from Gevelsberg in the southern Ruhr valley on Saturday.
Treehouse in forest could not be searched
In the forest, emergency personnel came across an inhabited treehouse. A search would have required special operations forces, which were not available at short notice, the police spokesman explained. However, the situation on site continues to be monitored.
Explosives in flat, lorry stormed
On Friday, officers had secured explosives in the suspect's flat in Gevelsberg. Subsequently, a special operations unit stormed a lorry in Niedervier at the Hambach open-pit mine, which had apparently been converted into a mobile home – the wanted man was not found there either.
In Saxony, twelve explosive devices were defused that had targeted power networks. The attack series concentrated on North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony – lignite coal is still mined and converted into electricity in all three states.
Brandenburg police are now also searching for a bicycle that the suspect may have used: a black model of the Trenoli brand, type "Tazio Sportivo M", with a frame height of 56 centimetres.
Hambacher Forest: symbol of resistance against lignite coal
The Hambacher Forest is located on the edge of the Hambach lignite open-pit mine and was originally supposed to give way to ongoing extraction. Since 2012, environmental activists have erected treehouses in the forest under the motto "Hambi stays", to prevent felling. In autumn 2018, the CDU-led state government had the forest cleared in one of the largest police operations in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia, citing fire safety.
In early 2020, the forest was permanently saved through a compromise between the federal government, states and energy corporations. The mining edge of the open-pit mine has since ended just before the forest border. The black-green state government in North Rhine-Westphalia has decided to develop the Hambacher Forest into primeval forest; by 2035 at the latest, it will become public property.
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)