It was, in fact, a call from the Indian Army headquarters that later informed Rambabu’s elder brother, Akhilesh Singh, a loco pilot in Dhanbad. Rambabu’s father-in-law, Subhash Chandra Singh, said he had visited his native village in Siwan in April. He was recently transferred to Jodhpur from Jammu and Kashmir, where he was posted as an operator in the S-400 air defence system.

But he could not join his new place of posting due to heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror incident. “I hope the government will take care of my daughter’s well-being and provide her a government job, apart from the compensation,” he said, adding that he was proud of his son-in-law’s sacrifice.

Rambabu’s uncle Nishikant, said, “Rambabu was eager to join the Indian Army from his childhood, and he worked hard to fulfil his dream. He had joined the Indian Army in 2018. His father Ram Vichar Prasad, a former panchayat up-pramukh, died about two years back.”

The mortal remains of the soldier were consigned to flames at the village ghat with full state honours. Slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Shaheed Rambabu Amar Rahe’ rent the air. A large number of people, including senior officials of the Siwan district administration, took part in the funeral procession.

Earlier, the leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav visited Patna airport and paid floral tributes to the departed soldier. A BSF sub-inspector, Mohammad Imtiyaz, a native of Saran district, laid down his life during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir.