The local Counter Insurgent Group at Pangsay area led by ethnic Ko-Kang mistreated local people during a high-school graduation ceremony held at Loi On village, Namkham Township, Musea district, Northern Shan State.

According to report from a Palaung youth, on March 8, 2003, students and participants arrived at the village by trucks for a literacy ceremony. While the last convoy reached near Pangsay Cigarette Factory at about 7 p.m., local militia led by Pangsay Kyaw Myint stopped all passengers and ordered them to get off from the truck.

The militias holding M-21 assault rifles with bayonets stopped the car forcibly and ordered all 18 people to sit beside the motorway. A witness said a member of Palaung Literacy Organization (PLO) requested U Kyaw Myint to release them and all people were released except two people from the group.

A truck driver who came from Namkham said the Counter Insurgent Group led by Kyaw Myint very often treats innocent civilian like this. Local Palaung and Shan people suffer due to many forms of extortion and human rights violations, he added.