German police have detained a suspect in a series of sabotage attacks on energy grid facilities in the country, world news agencies reported, citing German police, BTA reported.
According to police, the detainee is 48 years old. The man has been identified as Daniel V. and was born in a small town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where most of the sabotage activities were carried out. He was arrested in the area of the Weissweiler power plant near the city of Aachen in western Germany. The arrest was made after several days of investigation into a series of incidents in the area of large energy facilities in the country.
The police began searching for the 48-year-old man after he sent a series of letters claiming responsibility for the attacks. The letters were addressed to the media and to the authorities. His motives were related to the fight against global warming. In the letters, the man criticized the production of electricity from fossil fuels.
It is assumed that the suspect used improvised means to launch explosive devices against high-voltage power lines, thereby wanting to cause a short circuit at two locations in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg last week. No power outages were recorded there.
On Monday, several more devices designed to cause explosions were found on a high-voltage power line near the Weissweiler power plant. They were near the location where police were later able to arrest the man. Investigators also found another letter claiming responsibility for the attacks.
Sites in Saxony were also targeted, with police saying on Monday that at least 21 improvised explosive devices had been found and defused in the eastern German state.
“These devices were intended to damage high-voltage power lines by causing a short circuit,“ said Dresden police and prosecutors, adding that no damage was caused to the power grid.
Police and prosecutors issued a joint appeal for information and released two photos of the man. A massive search on Sunday, however, yielded no results and no trace of the suspect was found.
On Friday, police found explosives in the man's apartment in the western German town of Gevelsberg. Later, a special police unit raided a truck in a forest near Niederzier, about 100 kilometers away. The truck appeared to have been converted into a camper van. The wanted man was not found inside.