Jharkhand jawan among 20 killed in LAC stand-off

DUMKA: Twenty-four-year-old Kundan Kumar Ojha from Sahebganj district was one of the 20 Army personnel killed during the face-off with the Chinese army in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Monday night. He was a jawan with the 16th Bihar Regiment. Ojha left behind a one-month-old daughter and wife besides his parents and three siblings — two brothers and a sister. Family sources said he joined the Army three years ago and was married in 2018. He was an NCC cadet at Sahibganj College during 2009-11.

Chief minister Hemant Soren has expressed his condolences to the martyred jawan. He said, “I salute the jawan’s bravery who served his nation even during such challenging times to defend the country. We are with his family.”
He added that the second special train carrying Jharkhand labourers to Leh and Ladakh for Border Roads Organisation (BRO) projects has been suspended in view of the tension but will soon resume when things normalise. He said, “For ages our labourers have been taking part in building roads for national security. They shall continue to do so but only on temporary basis. The trains have been halted till situation normalises.”
Sahebganj deputy commissioner Varun Ranjan said Ojha belonged to Dihari village under sadar circle. “We are yet to get any official communiqué from the Army or his regiment on Ojha’s death.” However, Ranjan formed a team of district administration officials to visit the jawan’s family members and console them.
He said, “A team of district administration officials have been rushed to the jawan’s home to console the bereaved family. Efforts are on to receive the body and conduct his the last rites with full state honours.”
BJP’s Babulal Marandi condoled the jawan’s death from his official Twitter handle.