Major police operation in Hambacher Forest: sabotage suspect remains at large
Police searched the Hambacher Forest on Sunday with up to 100 vehicles for a 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg. The suspect is alleged to have installed explosive devices on high-voltage power lines.
Police search for sabotage suspect in Hambacher Forest – without results
A large police operation searched the Hambacher Forest near Kerpen, west of Cologne, on Sunday afternoon for an alleged saboteur – without success. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the search operation was called off at around 19:00 after no clues to the whereabouts of the wanted man were found. A general manhunt for the 48-year-old continues.
According to a dpa reporter, up to 100 police vehicles were deployed to the scene. A spokesman for Cologne police confirmed to dpa the end of the search operation and its unsuccessful result.
Suspect from the Ruhr region
The suspect is from Gevelsberg in the southern Ruhr region. Investigators released a wanted notice with two photographs of the man on Saturday. He is accused of attempted acts of sabotage against the German electricity network in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and most recently Saxony – including attacks on electrical substations and high-voltage power lines.
In the Lausitz lignite mining region in eastern Saxony alone, on the border with Brandenburg, police discovered twelve explosive devices. "These were intended to cause damage to the electrical high-voltage power lines through a short circuit," police and the Dresden public prosecutor's office stated. No actual damage to the electricity network occurred; there is no danger to the population.
Explosives found in flat, lorry stormed
On Friday, police officers found explosives in the suspect's flat in Gevelsberg. On the same day, a specialist operations unit stormed a lorry in Niederzier at the Hambach opencast mine, which apparently had been converted into a mobile home – the wanted man was not present. According to an updated wanted notice, he could be on the run by bicycle.
Among the cases registered this year are manipulated power lines, interference with railway tracks and planned arson attacks. This is evident from an internal BKA analysis according to research by NDR, WDR and SZ.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung