Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha SM

Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha hailed from Dihari village of Sahebganj district in Jharkhand. Son of Shri Ravi Shankar Ojha and Smt Bhawani Devi, he was born on 18th June 1993. Right from his childhood days, he had an inclination to join the Indian Army and he continued following his passion while growing up. Eventually, he joined the Indian Army in the year 2011 at the age of 18 years.

He was recruited into the 16 Bihar battalion of the Bihar Regiment, an infantry Regiment well known for its dauntless soldiers and numerous battle exploits. In the year 2018, he got married to Ms. Namrata and the couple had a daughter in 2020. By the year 2020, he had put in around 9 years of service and had served in various operational areas.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha’s unit was deployed in eastern Ladakh close to the Line of Actual Control(LAC) as part of Operation Snow Leopard. Since early June the tension along the LAC was building up due to construction work in Galwan valley close to the road going from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie. The Chinese had a serious objection to the construction of a bridge across the Galwan river into the Aksai Chin area. The area held strategic importance to India as well as China as it dominated the road from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie an airstrip of great military significance to India. There had been many rounds of talks between senior military officials from both sides to diffuse the tensions. On 15 June 2020 night, hectic Chinese activities were noticed across the bridge in Galwan valley and the Indian Army decided to take up the matter with Chinese forces to ask them to respect the LAC and adhere to the position as agreed earlier during the talks.

Considering the gravity of the situation, Col Santosh Babu the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar battalion deployed in the area decided to lead the negotiations. However, an altercation during the discussion raised the tempers leading to a scuffle. Soon the scuffle turned into a violent clash with the Chinese soldiers attacking Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha and his men with deadly clubs and rods. The Indian soldiers were greatly outnumbered and the Chinese soldiers seemed to be prepared for the attack. As the clashes escalated, Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha and other soldiers from the battalion too joined the beleaguered Indian troops to take on the Chinese soldiers. The clashes went on for many hours during which many Indian soldiers including Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh got seriously injured. Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha, the CO, Col Santosh Babu, and 18 other soldiers later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. The other brave hearts included Nk Deepak Kumar, Nb Sub Nanduram Soren, Nb Sub Satnam Singh, Nb Sub Mandeep Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Bipul Roy, Hav Sunil Kumar, Sep Ganesh Hansda, Sep Ganesh Ram, Sep Chandan Kumar, Sep CK Pradhan, Sep Gurbinder Singh, Sep Aman Kumar, Sep Kundan Kumar, Sep Rajesh Orang, Sep Jai Kishore Singh, Sep Gurtej Singh, and Sep Ankush. Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life at the age of 26 years in the line of his duty. Sep Kundan Kumar Ojha was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Sep KK Ojha is survived by his father Shri Ravi Shankar Ojha, mother Smt Bhawani Devi, wife Smt Namrata Devi, daughter, two brothers, and a sister.