Sabotage at Electrical Substations in North Rhine-Westphalia: Police Continue Search for Daniel V.
A 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg is suspected of carrying out attacks on electrical substations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony. The suspect remains at large.
Suspect in Substation Attacks Still at Large
As reported by www1.wdr.de, police are continuing to search for a 48-year-old man named Daniel V., who is suspected of committing acts of sabotage against electrical substations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony. Until late Friday night, specialist police units combed through a woodland area at Hambach Forest – where a lorry converted into a camper van belonging to the wanted man had previously been found. The man himself remained missing.
Daniel V. is considered the likely author of two confession letters that have been classified as authentic. The handwritten letters, deposited with an address in Gevelsberg, justify the attacks with criticism of energy production from fossil fuels. They also denounce the arms industry and address the "genocide in Palestine".
Following the emergence of the letters, police officers stormed the suspect's flat in Gevelsberg on Friday and confiscated explosives there.
Dobrindt Speaks of Climate Extremism
At a press conference in Düsseldorf, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) commented on the incidents. Dobrindt said he did not want to "make a final assessment" given the ongoing investigations, but stated: "According to current information, one must assume climate extremism here." Reul added that a left-wing extremist background was being examined – but foreign state sabotage was also not ruled out.
Attacks at Multiple Locations
The attacks on electrical substations near Jänschwalde in Brandenburg and Bergheim in North Rhine-Westphalia took place on Tuesday. Two days later, suspected firing devices were discovered at a substation in Dormagen. Following a clue from the confession letter, police searched the area around Weisweiler power station near Aachen on Friday – during which numerous thin wires were confiscated.
In Saxony, north of Bautzen, police also found explosive devices on Friday that had to be defused. The Saxon Interior Ministry stated that four objects had been secured at two discovery sites.
Notable is the geographical distribution of the crime scenes: all locations are situated near active brown coal mining areas. According to industry association DEBRIV, brown coal is still being mined in Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia, southern Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, and in eastern and western Saxony.
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)