LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated the remains of a 27-year-old Cambodian man who was shot and killed last week in Champasak province during an altercation with Laotian soldiers, officials and rights workers said Wednesday.

Officials say the dead man crossed into Laos from Cambodia’s Stung Treng province with six friends, all of whom were from Kampong Chhnang province.

Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said Sunday that the men, carrying illegal drugs and weapons, confronted a group of Laotian soldiers and began chasing them before one of the soldiers shot and killed 27-year-old Praing Sokha.

Two men from the group were arrested by Laotian authorities and are being held pending negotiations between Cambodian and Laotian officials, Stung Treng deputy police chief Phiv Vondeoun said.

Hou Sam Ol, Stung Treng provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said Praing Sokha’s body was returned on Saturday and was cremated near the border.