A Bangladeshi pizza delivery driver has been blinded in an acid attack in the UK by two schoolboys who tried to steal his scooter, police said amidst a spate of attacks in recent months with corrosive substances.
Muhammed Nawshad Kamal, 32, was working in the Walthamstow area of east London on Thursday evening when he was approached by two teenagers on a scooter who tried to steal his scooter, the Independent reported.
During the course of the attack the victim was repeatedly sprayed in the face with acid.
Kamal, who cops said inhaled "a corrosive chemical", was fighting for his life hospital, it said.
Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Henderson, of Waltham Forest CID, said residents helped by putting water on his wounds but he could lose his sight.
"This was an innocent man going about his work as a delivery driver, who may never see again," he said.
He is in an induced coma at the moment, he said.
"They tried to take his moped (scooter) from him, were constantly asking for his keys, threatening him and then they've reached into the carrier bag on their moped and have retrieved the corrosive substance and sprayed that on our victim's face."
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and released under investigation, while police arrested a 16-year-old boy on Saturday night on the same charge, the report said.
A spate of attacks with corrosive substances has fuelled a rise in violent crime across England and Wales in the past year, with recorded offences up 13 per cent.
The attack comes days after Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick said she was shocked at the 'extraordinary' surge in moped crime.
In the year to September there were more than 19,385 'moped-enabled' crimes in the capital, an average of 53 a day.
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