Murder in Golconda Settlement – 'Bamboo Man' gunned down

A MAN who gained notoriety after videos of him beating people with pieces of bamboo at Palmiste Park were viral on social media earlier this year was gunned down in San Fernando on the afternoon of June 3.

Police sources said while they had no motive for the murder of Micah Singh, 30, they were looking at all possibilities. Singh became known as "Bamboo Man" after the videos of him beating the men were posted online.

He would later claim, in another video, that he was retaliating against several men after they attacked him with a cutlass in full view of his son.

Singh was killed on the afternoon of June 3 in Golconda Settlement, San Fernando. Police sources could not say if his murder had anything to do with the beating incident earlier this year. There were no arrests up to press time.

Residents told Newsday that at around 2.30 pm on June 3, they heard about nine gunshots and later saw a silver-coloured car speeding off.

"I just heard these loud gunshots and then I see two fellas running down the hill saying somebody now get shoot," said a resident who did not want to be identified.

Singh, the father of a five-year-old boy, was later found dead at the top of the hill. He had been shot multiple times. Scores of neighbours and the his relatives gathered around while investigators and crime scene investigators processed the scene. Several of the onlookers struggled not to cry.

Singh's mother Sweny said this was the second time her son had been attacked in the past few weeks. She said three weeks ago his house was burnt down and he had been staying at the home of his father Franklin.

"Micah was not into any kind of gangsterism, to say people would hold hate for him and would want to harm him. They burnt his house recently and he himself said what else could make people burn down his house except jealousy?"

The grieving woman said she last saw her son alive not too long before the shooting incident. She runs a roti shop in San Fernando and said Singh spent all morning with her, telling her of his plans for the future.

"He had some lots (of land) to sell in Princes Town, maybe around here too, I don't know. Today he came and spent the whole morning with us and he was telling me of his plans to sell three lots to a lady and she was ready to put the money in the bank."

She said Singh was the third of her four children. She described him as constructive and independent. She said she found out about her son's murder from people who saw it on social media.

After the social media videos, Singh was interviewed by a crime talk show host and while "live" on air, he took off his T-shirt and repeatedly said, "Put down the gun, pick up the bamboo." Singh was then called the "bamboo man" on social media.

Investigations are continuing.