Nandu Ram Soren, a Naib Subedar with 16 Bihar Regiment, was preparing for a quiet post-retirement life with his wife and three minor daughters in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district but destiny had different plan. The 43-year-old was killed in the violent face-off with China at Galwan Valley in Ladakh on Monday. He served 23 years with the Army.
‘Building a house’
“In January, my brother had come to Rairanghpur, five km from our ancestral village, where he was building a house to settle in after retirement. He supervised the construction for two months. The rest of the work would have been taken up during his next visit,” said his brother Daman.
On Wednesday morning, ever since the news of his death broke people from all walks of life made a beeline to pay their respects to Soren at his ancestral house in Champahuda village of Mayurbhanj district.
Recruited at the age of 20, he was the only earning member of the Soren household. “He was very caring, a family man and loved to spend time with friends,” said Mahendra Nath Mohanta, a senior colleague in 16 Bihar Regiment, who had retired on June 1. He had spent eight years with the deceased.
“The government must take care of his family. His minor girls need society’s support more than ever before. We should no more take the Chinese at face value,” said Mr. Mohanta.
The State government has announced ex gratia of ₹25 lakh each from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the next of kin of the two soldiers from Odisha who were killed in Ladakh.
