Germany seeks man suspected in infrastructure sabotage: attacks on power transmission substations
German police have issued a Europe-wide search for a 48-year-old man suspected of multiple attacks on electricity grid infrastructure.
Europe-wide search over German electrical infrastructure sabotage
According to TVNET, German police have issued a search across Europe for a 48-year-old man from Gefelsberga, who is suspected of a series of deliberate attacks on power transmission substations in the west and north of the country.
The man under suspicion has claimed responsibility for the incidents himself — in two letters, he indicated that he wanted to draw attention to electricity production from fossil fuels, which he called a crime. A police spokesman emphasised: "First we need to clarify whether he is really the suspect or just an imitator." However, the letters contained information about incidents that had not been made public at the time they were sent — this seems to be a significant factor for the authorities.
Police conducted a search of a property in Gefelsberga. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reils confirmed that the identity of the suspect is known to the authorities. "Yesterday evening we checked again the locations he mentioned. And indeed, it was not made up. At least the information is correct," he said.
Reils also indicated that there is currently no clear evidence of foreign intelligence service involvement. "There is compelling evidence that this is a single individual perpetrator. However, a group could also be involved. And in this regard we are waiting to see how the situation develops," he added.
This morning, a suspicious device was discovered at the substation in Dormagen, located in North Rhine-Westphalia between Cologne and Düsseldorf. According to information from the newspaper Bild, homemade rocket launcher devices were found. Police regard the operation as an attempted act of sabotage.
The letters also mentioned an expected attack on an electrical substation near Aachen. Police thoroughly searched the area around the Weisweilar electrical substation — a DPA news agency correspondent observed forensic experts collecting circuit diagrams.
Similar incidents were recorded at the beginning of the week in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. The only known material damage was found at the substation in Bergheim, west of Cologne, where on Tuesday an unknown person draped wires across overhead power lines, causing a short circuit.
In Ganderkese, west of Bremen, a large-scale security operation took place this morning after a patrol spotted an open electrical cabinet — the substation premises were searched, but nothing suspicious was found.
Following these incidents, German police are on heightened alert throughout the country.
Source: TVNET