Power grid sabotage: major police operation at Hambach Forest, suspect at large
Around 100 police vehicles have been deployed at Hambach Forest since Sunday afternoon. Suspect Daniel V. (48) remains at large.
Major operation near Kerpen: police search for alleged power saboteur
A massive police operation has been underway at Hambach Forest near Kerpen in North Rhine-Westphalia since Sunday afternoon. At least 100 operational vehicles are on site, according to BILD. The operation is connected to a series of alleged sabotage acts against the German power grid.
The 48-year-old Daniel V. is the focus of investigations. Authorities have been searching intensively for the suspect for several days and published a public appeal on Saturday. According to a police spokeswoman speaking to BILD, several tip-offs were subsequently received: "The tip-offs are being examined."
Already on Friday afternoon, special forces officers raided the suspect's residential house in Gevelsberg (NRW). In the afternoon, police also responded to a suspicious lorry in the area of Hambach Forest. At both operational sites, an arrest proved unsuccessful — however, officers secured explosives at the suspect's apartment.
The suspect remains at large. A spokesman for Cologne police provided specific information: Daniel V. could be moving around on a Trenoli brand bicycle, model Tazio Sportivo M, frame size 56 centimetres.
The sabotage acts so far occurred mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and most recently in Saxony. All affected regions have in common that they are characterised by brown coal mining and power generation from coal.
Source: BILD