After the discovery of a suspicious launching device at a substation in Dormagen in North Rhine-Westphalia, the police are assuming another attempt to sabotage the energy supply. It was said that there was no damage to the critical infrastructure at the facility in Dormagen between Düsseldorf and Cologne.
This continues the series of sabotage attempts on the energy grid. Most recently, unknown people attacked power lines in Jänschwalde in Brandenburg and in Bergheim west of Cologne.
In Lower Saxony, emergency services also examined the area at a substation in Ganderkesee near Oldenburg. But later the all-clear was given. The officials said that only an open control cabinet was found there during the night. Due to the “special importance” of the facility, the site was immediately “comprehensively checked”. No damage was discovered, nor were any people on the site.
The police emphasized that the investigation into the case in Dormagen is still in its early stages. On Thursday evening, a walker discovered suspected launchers at the substation and alerted the authorities. According to the police, the constructions found are very similar to the launching devices that unknown people used to shoot cables over the overhead lines in Bergheim and thus paralyze several power plant blocks.
According to information from “Bild”, timers and copper wires were attached to the launchers. The police are treating the case as a crime of sabotage.
A letter of confession that is available to the investigators could provide possible clues. A man from Gevelsberg in the Ennepe-Ruhr district is named as the author. An intensive search is currently underway for him, said the police spokesman. “Whether he is actually a suspect or a copycat must first be checked,” he emphasized.
The investigators take the information from the letter very seriously. That's why there was a major operation at a substation in Weisweiler near Aachen on Friday morning. In addition to the already known acts in Bergheim and Dormagen, the man also mentioned an attack on the power supply there. It is unclear whether officers found any suspicious items on site.
Several media outlets reported that the letter of responsibility cited the fight against fossil fuels as the motive for the acts. The police did not provide any information about this.
The “taz” reported on Thursday evening that it had received a letter of responsibility for the incident in Brandenburg, which, according to the postmark, was sent in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the newspaper, the sender presents himself as a lone perpetrator who describes the homemade rockets used in detail. He cited the “immeasurable suffering” caused by the use of fossil fuels as a motive.
After extensive research, the “taz” expressly pointed out that it could not be clarified beyond doubt whether the author of the letter was also the perpetrator. The newspaper emphasizes that the crime in Bergheim is not mentioned in this letter.
