Major search at Hambacher Forest for suspected power grid saboteur proves unsuccessful
Police continue search for 48-year-old from North Rhine-Westphalia suspected of committing multiple acts of sabotage against the German power grid. Operation involving up to 100 vehicles yielded no results.
One hundred police vehicles, no result: search for power grid saboteur continues
A major police operation at Hambacher Forest west of Cologne has concluded without the wanted suspect being found. According to Tagesschau, police searched the dense forest area with up to 100 vehicles for a 48-year-old man from North Rhine-Westphalia suspected of committing multiple attempted acts of sabotage against the German power grid.
Police spokesperson Christoph Gilles stated that officers withdrew after examining a final foxhole. The police had previously combed through dense undergrowth and also searched tree houses located in the forest.
Explosives in apartment, motorhome without occupants
On Friday, officers secured explosives in the suspect's apartment in Gevelsberg. Shortly afterwards, a special operations unit stormed a truck converted into a motorhome in Niederzier at the Hambach opencast mine, which the man is believed to have used – he was not found there either. A new search notice suggests the suspect may have fled on a bicycle.
Investigators published two photographs of the wanted man on Saturday. "The search is ongoing," said a spokesperson for Cologne police. "We have received leads and we are following them up."
Confession letter containing perpetrator knowledge
In letters sent to several media outlets and signed with the name of the 48-year-old, the sender confessed to the acts. He justified the attacks with his criticism of electricity generation from fossil fuels. In the letters, the man claimed responsibility for attempted attacks on power infrastructure around the Jänschwalde and Schwarze Pumpe power stations in Brandenburg, as well as for acts of sabotage at Gohr, Bergheim-Rheidt, Dormagen and Weisweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) stated on Friday that the confession letters were classified as authentic and contained perpetrator knowledge.
Focus on lignite mining regions
The attempted sabotage acts concentrate on North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and most recently Saxony – federal states where lignite continues to be mined and used for electricity generation. Hambacher Forest was the site of protests against opencast mining for many years. Since 2012, the forest area was repeatedly occupied by activists; in 2018 police cleared numerous tree houses. The search for the suspect continues.
Source: Tagesschau