Paris prosecutor’s office takes charge of investigation, Gabriel Attal speaks of a “prepared and coordinated operation”

The SNCF suffered a “massive attack” during the night from Thursday to Friday, which paralyzed its TGV network, particularly on the Atlantic, northern and eastern routes.

The National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco) took charge of the investigation on Friday, July 26, “all wilful damage caused to SNCF sites”announced the Paris public prosecutor. The SNCF suffered, during the night from Thursday to Friday, a “massive attack” which paralyzes its TGV network, particularly on the Atlantic, northern and eastern routes.

The investigation is open in particular for damage to property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation, attacks on an automated data processing system by an organized gang and criminal association with a view to committing these crimes and offenses, Laure Beccuau specified in a press release.

The investigation is also open for vandalism and attempted vandalism by dangerous means in an organised gang, crimes carrying a penalty of twenty years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros, the magistrate said. The Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (SDAT) was designated as the coordinating service, the prosecution said, adding that the General Directorate of the National Police and the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie were also involved.

“The investigation is starting, I call on everyone to be cautious. What we know, what we see, is that this operation was prepared and coordinated, that nerve centers were targeted, which shows a form of knowledge of the network to know where to strike,” said Gabriel Attal, from the crisis unit at the Ministry of Transport.

He added that he could not “say more about the authors, the motivations” immediately.“All of our intelligence services and internal security forces are mobilized to track down, find and obviously punish the perpetrators,” he reaffirmed.

For the Minister Delegate for Transport, Patrice Vergriete, it is a question of“a criminal act, because there is a concomitance of the facts. Who [se cache derrière] ? the investigation will tell”, he declared on TF1.