Fgura car bomb triggered prematurely by low battery warning

A senior homicide inspector has explained to a court how the homemade bomb, which was placed under a car in Fgura last January and which failed to explode, was triggered prematurely by a low battery warning.

Inspector Keith Arnaud took the stand today as the compilation of evidence against Lorenzo Callus, known as 'Ħeswes', Paul Farrugia, known as 'Kwattru', and Jonathan Farrugia, known as 'Ġanni ta’ Nina' – who stand accused of the attempted murder of Mario Scicluna and his partner Elaine Galdes using a car bomb that was planted under the Scicluna’s car in January this year.

Police had received a report of an explosion underneath a vehicle on  January 4, Arnaud said. The area around the car was cordoned off and Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams made the device, which had malfunctioned and not exploded as intended, safe. The operation to remove the unexploded bomb took till late at night, he said.

Galdes had told police that she heard a large “pop” and looked out of her window to see smoke coming out from underneath the couple’s Mitsubishi Shogun. The couple had not been using the car much at the time, having purchased two other vehicles, Arnaud said.

The bomb was detached and taken to the forensic lab for examination. There it was found to contain a light sensitive activation board attached to a Nokia phone in a sealed silicone bag attached to a detonator and what police suspect to be TNT.

The sensor was pointing at the mobile screen, which would light up when it received a call and set off the bomb. The detonator was set off prematurely because the mobile phone battery was nearly dead and an alert had come up.

The SIM card was sold in Cospicua and activated in May 2017. The call data linked the device to unregistered numbers and mobile phones. Using cell tower data, the locations of the numbers it contacted were observed. The locations of Callus’ phone was matched to some of the locations of the bomb and it spent a long time at a location near his house, said the inspector.

The  police observed that on 4 January, the mobile was turned off without receiving a call or sms.

Intercepts showed that there was some panic after the reports of the failed explosion, said the inspector.

After the bomb failed to go off, a call was made by Farrugia...saying “throw the mobile from the bastions” shortly after the media report of the bombing, Arnaud said.

Police are still examining footage, around 72 hours worth of it, from a number of CCTV cameras in areas of interest. Arnaud said it was too early to draw conclusions from this footage, but noted that the day before the failed detonation, a pickup truck which was similar to one which belonged to the accused was seen in the area.

Police searched a yard in Birzebbugia where Lorenzo Callus’ VolksWagen was found. A forensic team found two Vodafone starter packs inside it, together with another dual-SIM mobile phone with its IMEI scratched off and a top up voucher. From two containers in the yard, wires, batteries and black tape, silicone and remote controls and a electronic board, all of which had been used in the bomb were recovered. Peter Paul Cachia, who was arrested but later released on bail, is thought to be the owner of the yard.

Callus was escorted to his home where police found what is suspected to be drugs, an old revolver with 10 rounds of .25 auto ammunition and three mobile phones. Callus said they were his. Also found were an empty Nokia box, a laptop and two smartphones. One of these smartphones was paired to a SIM card which had moved with the bomb’s SIM card. At times five phones were moving together to various locations, Arnaud said. The exhibits were taken away for testing.

Police moved in and Farrugia was arrested on 15 March while he was on his Luzzu in St George’s Bay in Birzebbugia.

Inspector Arnaud explained that investigations had determined how Paul Farrugia, known as il-Kwattru, had approached Mario Scicluna and offered to sell him credit notes on construction materials. Scicluna had passed on €100,000 in November and Farrugia was supposed to hand over the credit notes, but had failed to deliver them. Around two weeks after the failed January 4th bombing, Farrugia had gone to settle with Scicluna and handed over the credit notes, the court was told.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Jonathan Farrugia and for Callus, lawyer Roberto Montalto for Paul Farrugia.

Lawyer Mario Mifsud appeared on behalf of the parte civile, Mario Scicluna and Elaine Galdes.

The case continues.