Suspected London chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was “very angry” after his sister was shot dead by robbers in his native Afghanistan, a friend has claimed.
Ezedi, 35, sent his sibling “all the money he earned” whilst he was working in a pizza takeaway in Tyneside, northern England.
Ezedi's friend said that the 35-year-old was devastated after his sister was killed, however, there is no suggestion that this incident was linked to the alkaline attack in Clapham.
They also revealed that his friends and colleagues were shocked when Ezedi was arrested for sexual assault, labelling him an “intelligent, hardworking man”.
A friend of Abdul Ezedi said he was devastated after his sister was killed by robbers and vowed revenge
PA/Met Police“[His] main focus was to earn as much money so that he could send home to his family in Afghanistan”, the 33-year-old friend told The Daily Mail.
However, in 2017 or 2018, a robbery allegedly took place at his family home in Afghanistan and his sister was killed as a result. After her death, he “was crying for three weeks and wanted revenge”.
Ezedi’s alleged friend said that when he saw his former pal’s face in the news, his first thought went back to the robbery and Ezedi’s desire for vengeance.
A nationwide manhunt for the suspected acid attacker entered its seventh day today, with a £20,000 reward to anyone who can provide information to his whereabouts.
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Abdul Ezedi is suspected of attacking a mother and her two children last week with an alkaline substance in Clapham, London
Metropolitan PoliceMore than 200 calls have been received from the public with potential information but none have led to any sightings.
As the days pass by, detectives believe that Ezedi may already be dead, as he has not been spotted in over 100 hours despite officers scouring hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.
Commander Jon Savell said that Ezedi could have come to harm and laid out two theories.
He said: “I think it is realistic to understand that the fact no one has seen him recently and he has not been spotted by anyone either means he has come to harm and is yet to be found, or someone is looking after him and he has not been outside for some time. Those are the obvious two hypotheses.”
Abdul Ezedi is the subject of a national manhunt by police
Metropolitan PoliceThe 35-year-old was last spotted on CCTV crossing Southwark Bridge at 9.50pm, just two hours after the attack.
Metropolitan Police officers have been chasing Edezi since Wednesday after he chucked an alkaline substance on a 31-year-old woman and her two children.
The woman – who was known to Edezi – has suffered potentially life-changing injuries and may lose sight in her left eye. She remains sedated in hospital, whilst her two children have been discharged.
As part of their investigation, police are trying to establish how long Ezedi and the woman have known each other and what sort of relationship they had - as the mother is too poorly to speak to officers.
The Met has confirmed that Ezedi is not the father of the woman's children who were hurt in the attack.