Galwan valley clash: Bihar mourns death of its heroes

Grief-stricken villagers gathered at the residences of martyred soldiers to pay their final respects. At least 20 Indian Army personnel had lost their lives in the violent face-off in the Galwan valley area of Ladakh on June 15.

Patna: The bodies of three army jawans, who were killed in the line of duty in eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley, arrived in their native villages on Friday.

The bodies of the soldiers were taken to their native places in vehicles decked with flowers.

The state has been on the boil ever since news of the death of five sons of the soil reached here.

The bodies of Havildar Sunil Kumar, Chandan Kumar (Bhojpur), Kundan Kumar (Saharsa), Aman Kumar (Samastipur) and Jai Kishor Singh (Vaishali) were brought on a special flight.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and other members of the state cabinet, besides representatives of various political parties and top officials, were at the airport to pay their tributes to the fallen soldiers.

Huge crowd turn out to pay final respects to sepoy Chandan Kumar

The mortal remains of jawan Chandan Kumar reached Gyanpura in Bhojpur amid chants of 'Chandan Bhaiya amar rahe' by hundreds of local residents carrying a gigantic tricolour.

In Bhojpur, the father of Chandan Kumar has been crying ever since he learnt that his son had laid down his life.

Chak Fateh village mourns death of sepoy Jai Kishore

A huge crowd gathered to pay their last respects to Sepoy Jai Kishore in Vaishali's Chak Fateh village on Friday.

Sepoy Jai Kishore's residence reverberated with 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Jai Kishor amar rahe' chants as his mortal remains were taken for the last rites.

Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of Rs 36 lakhs each and a job to the next of kin of the five soldiers.

The families of the five soldiers - Chandan Kumar, Kundan Kumar, Aman Kumar, Jai Kishore and Sunil Kumar - will be given Rs 11 lakhs each from the state government, while Rs 25 lakhs each will be given from Chief Minister Relief Fund.

At least 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel rank officer, had lost their lives in the violent face-off in the Galwan valley area of Ladakh on June 15.

The violent face-off happened in Galwan valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on June 16.