A man has been charged with the murder of a community WhatsApp group administrator after an argument over being removed from the chat group led to a fatal shooting. Mushtaq Ahmed, the victim, was gunned down on Thursday evening in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province located on the western edge of Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan.
According to police reports, Ashfaq, a man identified only by his first name, has been arrested and charged with the murder of Ahmed. Authorities have confirmed that Ashfaq shot and killed Mushtaq after the latter removed him from a WhatsApp group following a disagreement.
The WhatsApp group, which was reportedly created for the local community to share updates, news, and messages, became the centre of a deadly altercation when Ahmed made the decision to remove Ashfaq from the chat. A statement from Ahmed’s brother, which was obtained by the AFP news agency, revealed that the two men had planned to meet and resolve their differences. However, the situation took a violent turn when Ashfaq reportedly arrived at the meeting armed with a gun.
“Ashfaq was very angry after being kicked out of the group,” the brother said. “They had agreed to meet, but instead of resolving the matter peacefully, Ashfaq showed up with a firearm and shot my brother.”
