By Deborah Nnamdi
A Pakistani man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting the administrator of a community WhatsApp group who had removed him from the chat, police reported on Saturday.
Mushtaq Ahmed was fatally shot on Thursday evening in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has long been plagued by sectarian violence.
A man identified only as Ashfaq has been charged with the murder, according to police records obtained by AFP and a local police official.
Mushtaq reportedly removed Ashfaq from the WhatsApp group following a dispute, according to a statement from Mushtaq’s brother provided to AFP.
He said that both parties had arranged to meet and reconcile but alleges that Ashfaq turned up with a gun and opened fire, killing his brother.
Ashfaq was angry “in reaction to removal from WhatsApp group,” according to his statement.
The availability of firearms, the influence of tribal customs, and sometimes weak law enforcement contribute to the frequency of such incidents.
