RANCHI: Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha, 26, who was killed along with Colonel B Santosh Babu and Havildar Palani in the violent face-off with Chinese troops at Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night had become father to a baby girl only 17 days ago.
Ojha, a native of Dihari village of Sahibganj in Jharkhand, got recruited in the Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army in 2011. He was the second child of his father Ravi Shankar Ojha, a farmer. Ojha’s mother Bhawani Devi was informed about her son’s demise over phone from an Army official at around 3 pm in the afternoon. His brothers, Mukesh Kumar Ojha and Kanhaiyya Kumar Ojha, work in private companies at Dhanbad and Gooda respectively.
According to family members, Ojha had come home on vacations five months ago and had talked to them last some 15 days back. Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan, however, said that no official communiqué has been received from the Indian Army so far.
“One Subedar rank official had called and informed the father of the late soldier that his son has been killed in the face-off. I also talked to the Subedar who confirmed the news,” said the Deputy Commissioner.
Sepoy Ojha is survived by his wife Neha Devi.
Chief minister Hemant Soren expressed his grief in the demise of the jawan. “We are proud of our brave son of Jharkhand #KundanOjha who sacrificed his life along with two other armymen in the line of duty. I salute all of them and Jharkhand Govt and the entire state stands in solidarity with Kundan's family in this hour of bereavement, " said Soren tweeted.
Meanwhile, in light of the increased tension on Indo-China border, the train which was to ferry over 1,000 labourers from Santhal Parganas and was scheduled to leave Dumka on Tuesday for Leh to work in projects manned by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), was cancelled.