Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was in relationship with injured mother
The suspect in the Clapham chemical attack had been in a relationship with the mother who was injured, police have said.
Commander Jon Savell, from the Metropolitan Police, said the breakdown of the relationship could be a motive for the attack last week.
Police have said that the facial injuries suffered by Abdul Ezedi, 35, in the attack in Clapham, south London, could be fatal if left untreated.
Officers were set to return to the scene of the attack on Wednesday evening, a week after a 31-year-old woman and her two children, aged eight and three, were doused with a corrosive liquid.
Mr Savell told journalists that the massive manhunt for Ezedi was “an incredibly high priority attempted murder investigation”.
Turning to potential motives, he said: “They were in a relationship and that relationship had broken down.”
The latest confirmed sighting of Ezedi on CCTV is on Vauxhall Bridge Road at around 11pm on the night of the attack, Jan 31.
The woman who was attacked in Clapham remains sedated in hospital and is still too ill to speak to police.
She had agreed to meet Ezedi on the night of the attack, and she and her children were in a car with him when they were injured, police said.
It comes as new footage of Ezedi was released showing him passing the Unilever building and heading towards Victoria Embankment and onto Temple before passing Westminster Pier and Westminster.
He is later spotted heading towards Westminster Bridge and then towards the London Eye and onto Albert Embankment approaching Vauxhall Bridge before crossing Vauxhall Bridge Road and on to Grosvenor Road.
Hundreds of calls have been received from the public with possible sightings of the suspect, who was initially using his bank card to travel around on the Tube network.
His route appears to broadly follow the River Thames, and investigators say they are keeping an open mind about whether he had jumped or been pushed into the water.
Darius Nasimi, from the charity the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, also appealed for anyone in the community who may be sheltering him to contact police.
