On Saturday, March 8, the police in Pakistan said that a man is facing murder charge after allegedly shooting the administrator of a community WhatsApp group who removed him from the chat.
Mushtaq Ahmed was reportedly shot dead on Thursday evening in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that borders Afghanistan, which has a history of bloody sectarian violence.
According to police documents, a man simply identified as Ashfaq has been charged with his murder.
A statement by Mushtaq’s brother said Mushtaq allegedly kicked Ashfaq out of the WhatsApp group following an argument.
He said that both parties had arranged to meet and reconcile but alleged that Ashfaq turned up with a gun and opened fire, killing his brother.
According to the statement, Ashfaq was angry in reaction to removal from the WhatsApp group.
It was gathered that the availability of firearms, the influence of tribal customs, and sometimes weak law enforcement, contribute to the frequency of such incidents.