Police in search of the suspect in the Clapham chemical attack, Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, have conducted raids on two locations in North Tyneside, including a pizza takeaway where he was employed. Ezedi, 35, is wanted for attempted murder following an incident where a mother and her two children were harmed by a corrosive substance. The raids, which involved armed police, took place early on Thursday morning, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The properties raided were linked to Ezedi, including the pizza takeaway where he worked and a flat above it. The operation was a joint effort with Northumbria Police. Police vehicles were spotted outside the Best Bite takeaway on Forest Hall Road, approximately 250 miles north of Ezedi’s last known location in London.
These recent raids are part of a series of searches at locations in London and northern England, where Ezedi resided in the Newcastle area. Police suspect that Ezedi, who sustained potentially fatal injuries to his face during the attack, might be receiving assistance to evade capture. A reward of £20,000 is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
Ezedi is accused of attacking his ex-partner and her two children, aged three and eight, with a strong alkali in Clapham on 31 January. The 31-year-old woman is currently in a critical condition in hospital and may lose sight in her right eye.
Ezedi, who is believed to have arrived in the UK from Afghanistan in 2016 on a lorry, is not the biological father of the injured children. A charity called Afghanistan and Central Asian Association is working closely with the police to reach out to the Afghan community. A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of aiding an offender but has since been released on bail.
Ezedi’s asylum claim was rejected twice before he successfully appealed against the Home Office by claiming he had converted to Christianity. He was convicted of two sexual offences in 2018 but was not deported as his crimes did not meet the threshold for deportation. A Baptist church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, has acknowledged a “connection” with the suspect.
