UK channel claims Bengaluru man is @ShamiWitness, Islamic State's voice on Twitter

Is one of the most influential voices of the Islamic State a marketing executive from Bangalore? In an exclusive report, UK’s Channel 4 claimed to have tracked down the person behind the Twitter account @ShamiWitness, which with over 17,000 followers, was reportedly one of the most influential global voices for the Islamic State. The shocker: he’s reportedly from Bangalore, identified by the channel only as Mehdi, a executive with an Indian conglomerate. According to the Channel 4 report, his full identity was not revealed since the man believed that his life would be in danger if his identity was revealed. But give his activities online – he’s reportedly been in touch with foreign jihadis, praising dead extremists as martyrs and urged people to follow other IS voices on the micro-blogging site – Indian authorities will likely to try and track him down. [caption id=“attachment_1846309” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screengrab of the Twitter account.[/caption] Mehdi was quoted as saying in the article that he didn’t want his full name revealed since it would put his life in danger and said the only reason he hadn’t joined the Islamic State in its fight was because his family was dependent on him. The channel report noted that while he was one of the influential voices for a group best known for its gruesome violence, Mehdi’s personal Facebook page was a study in contrast to his Twitter persona, with him sharing jokes, images and posting images of pizza dinners and Hawaiian parties. However, while the Twitter account was reportedly shut after the channel contacted him, there have been a range of reactions on Twitter from funny obersvations to condemnation:

So many counter-terrorism experts considered Shami Witness to be an authority on Syria. Too bad he was just some loser in India...

— James Miller (@Millermena) December 11, 2014

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The claim that one of Islamic State’s influential voices on social media comes at a time when Indian security authorities are increasingly worried about the Islamic State’s influence in India. The Twitter outing comes on the heels of the arrest of Areef Majeed, who was detained by security forces after he returned from Iraq, following injuries that he sustained while fighting for the IS. ( read more ) It remains to be seen whether IS has the clout to actually recruit people to carry out terrorist attacks, but there is no doubting their ideological appeal which extends from students in Southall to young men in Kalyan, and now a marketing executives in Bangalore.