When ISIS released its latest propaganda video last week, all eyes were on the militant group's new poster boy. Clad in black, wielding a handgun and his face hidden by a ski mask, he issued threats in a distinctive London accent.
The parallels to "Jihadi John," who was killed in a drone strike in November, were obvious and presumably intentional. Social media began to light up with people clamoring to find out the identity of the so-called "new Jihadi John."
While authorities have said that they are still working to confirm the identity of the man, security agencies are said to be focused on a 32-year-old who converted to Islam from Hinduism and who calls himself Abu Rumaysah.
In response to questions in Parliament recently naming Abu Rumaysah, British Home Secretary Theresa May refused to comment about the name, citing an ongoing investigation.
The Londoner -- who had been arrested on suspicion of belonging to a banned organization and other terrorism-related charges -- skipped bail in September 2014, fleeing the UK with his wife and children and traveling to Syria to join ISIS.
My brother Sid
But to 29-year-old law student Konika Dhar, he is not Abu Rumaysah but Siddhartha Dhar -- or simply Sid -- her older brother. Over tea and later an interview, she told me her story.
"He was a typical brother, I think," Konika said. "He liked playing his basketball, which he was quite good at, video games and films. And he liked to collect comic books as well... just a typical, good older brother."
Konika is a remarkably poised young woman, though the strain that her brother's radicalization has placed on her family was obvious as we talked.
She was visibly tense, and careful to avoid saying the wrong thing. She said she wants the world to see a different side of him, the side that she grew up with. She showed me photos of a beaming teenage boy cutting birthday cake.
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