“I see this as a strike against our campaign spirit. The public came to our campaign trips. Even the NLD was no match for us in Hpakant. They seem to be worried as well. I think they did these [killings] because of the good public rallies,” claimed U Khin Maung Lwin, Chairman of the TNDP's branch in Hpakant.

U Tun Lwin, a Hpakant Township TNDP member from Nathmaw Village was allegedly murdered in his home by two armed men wearing civilian clothes on the evening of October 5th. The following evening, U Kan Sat, a Hpakant Township TNDP Executive Member was killed while coming back from a monastery with his wife. He had been traveling in a car that was stopped by two men on a motorbike, it is alleged. After stopping his car the unknown assailants shot U Kan Sat in the head at close range, killing him instantly, witnesses claim.

Others have suggested that the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Burma's second largest armed ethnic group, could be responsible for the killings. “You can say it was the KIA. Before U Sai Tun Lwin was killed in Nathmaw, a letter was submitted to the KIO liaison office on the 16th over the tax issue. We told them that we couldn’t pay them the tribute as we were working on literary and cultural matters. We told them in a pleasant manner. U Kan Sat’s situation shows that it was to weaken the activities of Red Shan national affairs. They stopped the car [to kill him]. In the past, the KIA has warned us not to do national activities,” said U San Wai, a leader of an organization known as the Shan Tribes Affair Group.
An individual who claims to be investigating the incident has suggested that those who killed U Sai Tun Lwin spoke the Kachin language.

San Aung, a representative of the Myitkyina based Peace Creation Group, a group of prominent Kachin businessmen who have sought to help the peace process in Kachin state, disputed suggestions that the KIA was involved in the deaths of the two men who are from the Tai-Leng or Red Shan ethnic group.  "The KIA has been avoiding conflict with the public and it is possible that the Sa Ya Pha did this to bring down the dignity of the KIA. The KIA has immediately begun work on bringing the case to light,” said San Aung, referring to Sa Ya Pha, a unit of the military whose name has been translated as Military Affairs Security.

U Saw Win Tun, secretary of Shanni (Taileng) and Northern Shan Ethnics Solidarity Party (SNSP) who is running as a candidate in Hpakant Township said the fallout from the killings remains unclear. “This can lead to people being afraid to vote or uplift the national spirit and make the national parties stronger. I don’t know which one will overpower the other,” he said.

In addition to the the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National League for Democracy (NLD), a number of other parties are running candidates in jade rich Hpakant, located in western Kachin state. This includes the TNDP, Shanni (Taileng) and Northern Shan Ethnics Solidarity Party, the National Democratic Force (NDF), the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP), the Kachin National Congress for Democracy (KNCD), and the Kachin Democratic Party (KDP).