Jharkhand loses two brave sons in violent clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh

Jharkhand plunged into grief on Wednesday as the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley stripped the state of two its bravehearts -- Kundan Kumar Ojha and Ganesh Hansda.He and Hansda were among the 20 Army personnel killed in a fierce clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night.

Jharkhand plunged into grief on Wednesday as the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley stripped the state of two its bravehearts -- Kundan Kumar Ojha and Ganesh Hansda. Ojha, blessed with a daughter just 17 days ago, had promised his mother over the phone that he would be home as soon as he got leave from duty.

That was the last the family heard from the 28-year-old soldier. He and Hansda were among the 20 Army personnel killed in a fierce clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night. The second of the four children of farmer Ravi Shankar Ojha and Bhawani Devi from Dihari village in Sahibganj district, Ojha had joined the Army in 2011. He had tied the knot a year-and-a-half ago.

"'Abhi to Ladakh mein banni, aur chhuti mili taab betiki dekhe aai' (I am in Ladakh now, will come as soon as I get leave)," were his final few words to Bhawani Devi on June 7, the braveheart's cousin Prabhat Kumar said. Ojha's parents were too overcome with emotion to even speak.

"He always had the passion to join the Indian Army. He used to wake up at 3 am to start his daily exercises as part of his preparations," his cousin said in a choked voice. Ganesh Hansda had joined the Army in 2018 at the age of 21 years.

His first posting was in Ladakh, the slain soldier's elder brother Dinesh said. "We got information about his martyrdom on Tuesday night over the phone from the headquarters... We are filled with grief but very proud that he sacrificed his life for the country," he said.

A resident of Kosaphalia village in Bahrahgora block of East Singhbhum, Hansda was the younger child of Sukhda and Kapra. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that whenever there has been an attack on the country's sovereignty, "sons of Jharkhand" sacrificed their lives to protect it, and the two soldiers would be remembered forever.

Monday's clash, the biggest confrontation between the two militaries since the 1967 clashes in Nathu La, has significantly escalated the already-volatile border standoff in the Ladakh region.