Sabotage of electrical substations in Germany: police search for 48-year-old man from North Rhine-Westphalia
German police are investigating a series of attacks on electrical substations as sabotage. According to DPA, they are searching via a European arrest warrant for a 48-year-old man from North Rhine-Westphalia.
Attack on substation in Dormagen: German police investigate series of sabotage
German police have launched an investigation into sabotage following the discovery of a suspicious object at an electrical substation in Dormagen, a city located between Cologne and Düsseldorf. According to Czech news outlet with reference to the DPA news agency, a passer-by reported the object on Thursday and police classified it as a possible detonation device. Power supply was not disrupted and no damage was reported.
Investigators have two letters in which the alleged perpetrator claims responsibility for the attacks on substations. On the basis of information contained in these letters, police checked two further electrical installations – in Weisweil near Aachen and in Ganderkesee near Oldenburg. According to DPA, the letters contain information that was not publicly known at the time they were sent to the media.
German police are searching via a European arrest warrant for a 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia. "We must establish whether this is actually the suspect or someone who wants to ride the wave of attention," said a police spokesman. German media are also reporting that the letters cite opposition to fossil fuels and companies that use them as the reason for the attacks. Police have not officially commented on the content of the letters.
Herbert Reul, interior minister of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, stated on Friday that "much suggests that a person whose name we know is behind this". He added that a foreign power seems less likely as the perpetrator. "Multiple indications support the assumption that this is the act of an individual. However, there may be a group involved in this," said Reul.
The incident in Dormagen is not an isolated case. On Tuesday, a substation near the Jänschewalde power station in Brandenburg was targeted by sabotage, where the attacker or attackers used objects of domestic manufacture resembling New Year's Eve fireworks. On the same day, an attack also hit a substation in Bergheim near Cologne, where police found a detonation device and pyrotechnics. Germany has thus recorded a total of three incidents of this kind in recent days.
Source: České noviny