Cops identify shooter in tyre shop owner’s slaying

- wanted bulletin may be issued soon

The police are confident they know the identity of the gunman who executed city businessman Randolph Singh two weeks ago but efforts to locate him so far have failed.

A senior police official yesterday made this disclosure to Stabroek News and noted that the force is inclined to issue a wanted bulletin for the man in the coming days.

While not wanting to go into too many details, the official said the police know the identity of the killer. He said a visit to the man’s home was met with locked doors and windows. The house was found to be abandoned and subsequent efforts to locate the man were futile.

Randolph Singh
Randolph Singh

Singh’s autopsy is yet to be done as his close relatives, who reside abroad, have not arrived in Guyana to identify his remains. Stabroek News was told that the man’s wife and children reside in New York and that is where he would spend most of him time. He would come to Guyana from time to time to check on the Airmax Vulcanizing shop on South Road, which he owned. This newspaper was told that he does not have any close relatives living in Guyana.

Though the police are certain about the identity of the trigger man, this newspaper has been unable to ascertain whether investigators have a motive for the killing.

The man’s workers, his friends and other acquaintances all say that they know of no reason why he would be killed but noted something had to have gone wrong for him to be killed in such a brutal manner.

One eyewitness had recalled that the gunman, who made no attempt to conceal his identity as he was hidden by the darkness on the night of February 18, was seen walking towards the tyre shop from the direction of Cummings Street.

The tyre shop is located between Cummings and Light streets and the area would have been desolate as the shooting occurred at 10pm.

According to the eyewitness, the shooter approached Singh and two men, who were sitting under a tree across the road from the tyre shop, stopped, calmly pulled out a weapon and began firing. The eyewitness said Singh appeared to be the sole target as the gunman aimed the weapon at him and just opened fire.

Dilbert Mohamed, 33, who was sitting with Singh at the time, sustained a bullet wound to the elbow. In his bid to escape the shots, he ended up across the road and sought refuge behind a nearby building. Singh was left sprawled at the side of the road with multiple gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital where he and Mohamed were rushed by a neighbour. The third man escaped unhurt.

The gunman, according to the police, escaped on a waiting motorcycle. No information has been released as to whether an eyewitness might have gotten a glimpse of the shooter or the licence plate number of the motorcycle.

There was also no information as to where the motorcycle might have been parked. According to sources, the timing of the shooting was a clear indication that Singh was being watched and the shooting perfectly timed. From all indications, Singh would have been at his business for some time prior, and this points to the gunman being nearby watching his movements.

Singh’s mother-in-law had said in a Facebook post that the businessman had returned to Guyana days earlier to recuperate from an illness.

The woman also expressed shock at the circumstances under which he died.

Efforts by Stabroek News to contact her and other close relatives were futile.