Germany seeks 48-year-old man in connection with electricity infrastructure sabotage
German police have issued a European-wide search for a 48-year-old man from Gefelsberga. He is suspected of multiple acts of sabotage at electrical transmission substations.
Germany seeks suspect in sabotage across Europe
Google News LV — Crime (lv) reports that German police have issued a Europe-wide search for a man suspected of a series of acts of sabotage carried out in recent days at electrical transmission substations in Germany.
A 48-year-old man from Gefelsberga has claimed responsibility for the incidents in two letters. In the letters, he claimed that he intended the attacks to draw attention to electricity generation from fossil fuels, which he describes as a crime. The letters contained information about incidents that had not yet been made public at the time they were sent.
"First we need to establish whether he is genuinely the suspect or just a copycat," said a police spokesman.
Herbert Reuls, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, confirmed that the activities are linked to a person whose identity is known to the authorities. "Yesterday evening we checked the locations he mentioned again. And indeed, it was not fabricated. At least the information is accurate," the minister added.
There is currently no basis for talking about foreign involvement. "At present there are not many signs pointing to foreign involvement. We have convincing evidence that this is a single individual perpetrator. However, a group could also be involved," Reuls revealed.
This morning, a suspicious device was found near a substation in Dormagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, between Cologne and Düsseldorf. German newspaper Bild reports that handmade rocket launcher devices were found. Police believe that what occurred could be an attempted act of sabotage.
The letters also mention a potential attack on a power station near Aachen. Police thoroughly searched the area around Weisweiler power station — a DPA news agency correspondent observed forensic experts collecting plans and wires. No further details about the operation were disclosed.
Similar incidents were registered earlier in the week in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. Damage was confirmed only at the Bergheim substation west of Cologne, where unidentified persons draped wires over overhead electrical lines, causing a short circuit.
Police searched properties in the suspect's birthplace, Gefelsberga. In Ganderkesee, west of Bremen, a large security operation was carried out after a patrol discovered an open electrical cabinet — the search revealed nothing suspicious. Following the series of sabotage incidents, police across Germany are on high alert.
Source: Google News LV — Crime (lv)