A Pakistani man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting the administrator of a community WhatsApp group who removed him from the chat, police confirmed on Saturday.
According to the AFP, the incident took place on Thursday evening in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which shares a border with Afghanistan and has a history of sectarian violence.
According to police records and a statement from the victim’s family, the suspect, identified only as Ashfaq, allegedly killed Mushtaq Ahmed after being removed from the messaging group.
“Mushtaq had taken Ashfaq out of the WhatsApp group following an argument,” the victim’s brother stated.
He further explained that both men had agreed to meet in an effort to resolve their differences, but instead, Ashfaq allegedly arrived armed and opened fire.
“The accused was furious after being removed from the WhatsApp group,” the statement added.
Local authorities have charged Ashfaq with murder and are continuing their investigation.
Police officials have highlighted the easy availability of firearms, deep-rooted tribal customs, and law enforcement challenges as contributing factors to such violent incidents.
While social media disputes are common, cases escalating to deadly violence remain rare.
