€1m reward produces many tip-offs in Berlin power grid arson attack

A large number of potential leads have been received following the attack by suspected left-wing extremists on Berlin's power grid last month as citizens sought to bag a €1 million ($1.18 million) reward for information.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is investigating the tip-offs, but it is too early to speak of a firm lead, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in remarks published by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group on Saturday.

Anyone who provides the police with decisive information for solving the arson attack by February 24 is eligible to collect the pay-out, he stated.

"However, it is clear that the reward will only be paid for valid - that is successful - tips that lead to the apprehension of the perpetrator or perpetrators," said Dobrindt, anticipating that talk within the far-left community itself could lead to the culprits.

"We believe that there are very different assessments within the left-wing extremist scene about the success of the attack, which left thousands of Berliners without electricity and heating for days in sub-zero temperatures," he added.

"That's why I can well imagine that clues about the perpetrators could come from this scene," said the minister.

He noted that such rewards for information are usually limited in time and anyone connected to the incident should not hesitate to come forward.

The investigation of criminal offences "will not be put on the back burner, and any accomplices will not have 12 months to consider whether they want to be on the right side," Dobrindt said.

The BKA said in a statement that it and the chief federal prosecutor are appealing to the public for information about the person or people who damaged several high-voltage cables in Berlin in the arson attack on January 3.

The damage caused by an incendiary device or pyrotechnic left 45,000 households in the south-west of the capital without power for days.