Abdul Ezedi search: Police trawl Thames for alkali attack suspect

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Police in London are today searching the River Thames for alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi. It comes after detectives on Friday revealed they believed the 35-year-old had "gone into" the water following the attack in Clapham last month.

He was seen on CCTV leaning over the railings of Chelsea Bridge in west London on the night a woman and two young girls were attacked with a corrosive substance in the south London suburb.

This morning (February 10), a police boat was spotted circling between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges and pausing beside a small ship before moving off again.

Despite the poor visibility caused by the weather, a crowd gathered to watch the operation. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new feature s. In a briefing at Scotland Yard on Friday, Commander Jon Savell said: "We have spent the last 24 hours meticulously following the CCTV, and it's our main working hypothesis that he's now gone into the water. "We have looked at all of the available cameras and angles, and with the assistance of Transport for London and CCTV from buses that were travelling over the bridge at the relevant time and there is no sighting of him coming off the bridge." Asked whether police were willing to say that Ezedi was dead, Det Supt Rick Sewart said: "I'm prepared to say that he's gone into the water and if he's gone into the water then that's the most probable outcome." Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, is accused of pouring a strong alkali on his ex-partner, and injuring her two young children, aged three and eight, on January 31.