He was the subject of relentless hounding.
The man suspected of attacking a woman and her two daughters last week in London with a chemical substance probably drowned in the River Thames, London police finally said on Friday.
Abdul Ezedi, 35, residing in the Newcastle region (north-east of England), is suspected of having sprayed his former partner, 31, and her two young daughters with an “alkaline” substance (of the type soda or bleach) in his car on Wednesday January 31 evening.
He himself had been seriously injured in the face by the substance during the attack.
Spotted on CCTV footage
Since this attack, in Clapham in south London, the suspect has remained untraceable, although he was spotted on CCTV images in the capital.
On Friday, Scotland Yard said its main hypothesis was that the man "died" after "entering" the water of the River Thames.
Thanks to these video surveillance cameras, the police were able to find images of the man, first walking around six kilometers "at a determined pace" on the evening of the attack until taking the Chelsea Bridge, in the center from London around 11:30 p.m. (GMT).
“No image shows him leaving the bridge,” Commander Jon Savell detailed during a press briefing, adding that he was seen on surveillance camera images “leaning over the barriers” of the bridge.
“This is a man who had just committed a horrible attack and himself suffered significant injuries which must have caused him extreme pain,” detailed the commander.
"At this time of year the Thames has a very rapid flow" and "it is very likely that if it has entered the water it may not reappear for a month, and it is not "It cannot be ruled out that it will never surface," added the police official.
20,000 pounds reward for any information
The police had launched a real hunt to find Abdul Ezedi, also offering a reward of 20,000 pounds (23,400 euros) for any information leading to his arrest.
On Monday, a man suspected of having helped him in his escape was briefly arrested.
On Thursday, two addresses were searched in Newcastle, including the suspect's workplace.
Scotland Yard revealed that Abdul Ezedi had been in a relationship with the mother of the two girls, aged three and eight, but that the couple had separated.
The victim, who could lose the use of his right eye as a result of the attack, is still hospitalized.
According to British media, Abdul Ezedi, who is believed to have arrived from Afghanistan in 2016, was previously convicted in 2018 of a sexual offense and given a suspended sentence by Newcastle Crown Court.
According to the same source, he was granted asylum in the United Kingdom after two failures, after a priest told British authorities that Ezedi had converted to Christianity.