A Pakistani man has been charged with the alleged murder of a whatsapp group administrator after being removed from the chat, police told AFP on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Ashfaq, reportedly shot Mushtaq Ahmed on Thursday evening in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the Afghanistan border. According to police, Mushtaq had removed Ashfaq from the group following an argument, a decision that angered him.
Despite an attempt to reconcile, Mushtaq’s brother claims that Ashfaq arrived at their meeting armed and fatally shot him. “It was a non-issue, a very trivial matter. No one in our family even knew about the dispute,” the victim’s brother told Arab News.
Ashfaq fled the scene, and police are currently searching for him. The case has raised concerns about the easy availability of weapons in the politically volatile region and the increasing trend of using violence to settle minor online conflicts.
Similar incidents have occurred in India. Two months ago, in Maharashtra’s Thane district, three men were arrested for allegedly assaulting their friend after he refused to post an offensive WhatsApp status. The group admin, angered by his non-compliance, reportedly led an attack that left the victim critically injured.
