The "new Jihadi John" seen in a video released by the Islamic State on Sunday may have been identified, according to British media reports. The Telegraph reported the family of British-Indian Muslim convert Siddhartha Dhar saying that the person who is seen shooting five hostages in the clip could be the 32-year-old man. His mother and sister admitted there were similarities between the voice of the masked man and Dhar. However, BBC reported that his sister is not entirely convinced it is him.
Intelligence agencies are looking into the possibility of the balaclava-clad man being Dhar. Voice recognition experts are also examining the video. Dhar, who is also known as Abu Rumaysah, was a bouncy castle salesman from east London. He was arrested in 2014 along with preacher Anjem Choudary on suspicion of being part of banned group Al-Muhajiroun. However, he jumped bail and travelled to Syria with his wife and four children. He posted pictures on Twitter of him holding an AK-47 assault rifle in one arm and his infant son in the other.
The BBC's Dominic Casciani tweeted this video analysis:
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