The violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night has also impacted Jharkhand, particularly Santhal Pargana.

While sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha from Sahebganj district died in the clash, a special train that was supposed to leave Dumka with around 1,600 workers recruited by the Border Roads Organisation for road construction in Leh and Ladakh was cancelled on Tuesday.

Kundan, a 24-year-old jawan of the 16th Bihar Regiment from Dihari village near Sahebganj town, was among those killed in the Galwan Valley. He leaves behind his wife and newborn daughter, his parents and three siblings — two brothers and a sister.

While both governor Draupadi Murmu and chief minister Hemant Soren offered their condolences, the Sahebganj district administration is preparing to conduct a funeral with full state honours.

“His body is yet to arrive and the last rites will be conducted at his ancestral village with state honours,” Sahebganj deputy commissioner Varun Ranjan told The Telegraph on Wednesday afternoon.

The special train that was supposed to leave Dumka railway station with around 1,600 workers from Santhal Pargana, 962 from Dumka alone, was cancelled by the state government on Tuesday evening in view of the escalated tension along the border with China near where they where supposed to work, Dumka deputy commissioner Rajeshwari B. said on Tuesday.

While the registration of workers at the block level is continuing, the special trains would resume after receiving instructions from the state government, she added, triggering speculation that those would now operate only after the situation along the border becomes normal.

There was a stand-off between the Jharkhand government and BRO after some of the workers who were stranded in Ladakh during the lockdown complained about certain problems with respect to their food, lodging and wages.

“National security is our priority and at the same time we have prioritised that the honour, dignity and the rights of our workers are guaranteed while serving the nation,” Soren had tweeted.A team of officers then took up the matter with BRO which, in a written consent, agreed to give full benefits to the workers and also comply with conditions as laid down in the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979 and The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923.

These workers would now get about 20 percent hike in their wages, besides medical facilities, appropriate clothing, travelling allowances, security at workplace and housing facility, a release issued by the state information and public relations department had said.

Following the signing of the agreement, Soren flagged off the first train from Dumka on June 13.

Four more special trains with such workers were scheduled for departure on June 20, 24 and 28 and on July 4, which are likely to be rescheduled now.