A grieving family in a nondescript Bihar village has found an unnecessarily controversial mention in international media and the think tank space, and that has only aggravated their pain. Kumari Anjali, 24, sits in a huddle with family and friends in Siwan’s Wasilpur village, torn between the sinking sorrow of losing her husband – Indian Army Sepoy Rambabu Kumar Singh – and the incredulity of being caught in the fog of Operation Sindoor herself.
Anjali and 26-year-old Singh married each other barely six months ago and were expecting their first child when on May 12, the Army soldier was injured in a road accident near the Jammu airport. He died in a hospital the same day, two days after a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following 87 hours of a sharp military escalation.
In the heat of that moment, a series of journalistic errors, misjudgement by officials, political impetuosity and ignorance, all spawned a rumour – that Singh was deployed with the Indian Air Force’s S-400 missile system, one of which (at Adampur in Punjab) the Pakistanis targeted with ‘high-speed’ missiles and falsely claimed to have destroyed.
Singh’s death was hungrily claimed as evidence that ‘his S-400 battery’ was hit.
What followed was conjecture, chaos and a cruel joke – one that resulted in the promise of additional financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for Singh’s family. The Bihar CM’s statement thickened the confusion as he incorrectly described Singh as a BSF jawan.
Today, weeks after his death, Singh’s family waits for that promise to be fulfilled, despite the government admitting that it can’t release the funds as Singh’s wasn’t a battle casualty. His family will still get funds from the Army group insurance, death gratuity and other financial security payouts that are accorded to the kin of a soldier who dies on duty.
But how did this myth of the ‘S-400 operator’ arise and what settled the frenzied speculation over the soldier’s death? Several facts establish beyond doubt that his role in an S-400 unit wasn’t just improbable, it was impossible.
First, the IAF exclusively uses the S-400 and never the Army. Second, he died on May 12, while the attempted and intercepted Pakistani strike was in the very early hours of May 10. Third, the battery was deployed at Adampur, about 230km away from Jammu. And fourth, the Army had already informed his family in Wasilpur and the District Sainik Kalyan (soldier’s welfare) officer that Singh had died on duty in an accident and wasn’t a battle casualty.
This muddle, partly arising from ignorance of military facts and the Pakistani disinformation ecosystem and partly because of the Bihar chief minister presuming Singh’s to be a battle death and chasing a relief payout headline compounded the grief of his young widow, brother and parents.
It started with an uninformed news article in Patna-based website FirstBiharJharkhand, which reported Singh’s death and incorrectly said that he was operating the S-400 air defence system during the May 7-10 clashes. It was published on May 13, days after Pakistan’s claim of striking an air defence unit. Some local stringers in the distant Siwan district picked up the cue from the website and it soon spread to a few other publications.
Some of this was probably a consequence of limited knowledge of military matters, further complicated by the nature of the unit Singh was posted with. He was serving in the 43rd Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Battalion of the Army’s Aviation Corps, records show. In the Army’s RPAS battalions, founded in 1999, subunits are called ‘flights.’ That probably caused some confusion.
On May 23, Singh’s family received a letter on behalf of the commanding officer of his unit. “Rambabu Kumar Singh… was serving in the counter-insurgency operation area in Jammu on May 12, 2025. While on official duty, he met with a road accident and was admitted to a military hospital, where he could not be revived,” it read. ThePrint has seen the letter.
In a conversation with ThePrint in Wasilpur village, Singh’s wife confirmed this. She said she also spoke to the commanding officer over the phone. Singh would have completed 7.5 years in service later this year.
The soldier’s body arrived at the Patna airport on May 14, where a wreath-laying ceremony was held and respects were paid. As per protocol, there was no guard of honour, which is accorded only in the case of battle casualties.
Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who was present at the airport as Singh’s body was flown in, underlined the confusion: “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had come out with a post on X saying Rambabu Singh was a BSF Jawan. Now, it turns out that he was with the Army. Such confusion at the level of the CM is regrettable.” The soldier’s last rites were performed with full state honours at his village later that evening.
It is important to note that in India, as in most democracies, there is no official designation of a battle casualty as a ‘martyr’. The Army headquarters recently issued a letter to all its commands, saying the use of the term for fallen soldiers “may not be appropriate”. The norm is ‘killed in action’ or ‘KIA’.
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Why the Army stepped in
The Bihar government’s initial announcement of financial assistance and Yadav’s demand that the jawan be given the status of a ‘martyr’ only added to the news article’s version of Singh being a battle casualty.
This is when the Army stepped in to set the facts right. Manish Kumar, the District Sainik Kalyan officer, said: “The Army headquarters officially communicated that his death was classified as a ‘physical casualty.’ A ‘physical casualty’ refers to a soldier’s death due to reasons outside battle or an operational engagement.” A District Sainik Kalyan Officer is responsible for the welfare of ex-servicemen, widows of soldiers, and their dependents within a district.
Following the Army’s intervention, the Siwan District administration also issued a statement which acknowledged that Singh was not a casualty of Operation Sindoor. It’s the job of the district administration to ensure funds released by the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or any other source reach the families.
Manish Kumar said that if a soldier dies in battle, usually an ex gratia of Rs 21 lakh is granted by the state government — an increase from the previous Rs 11 lakh compensation. In this case Nitish raised it to 50 lakhs.
“Unless the Army Headquarters officially designates him as a battle casualty, the letter (that was sent to the family) doesn’t come into the picture.” As for the political promises, the officer distanced himself from the statements made by the leaders. “We are not accountable for politicians’ statements. As far as the district administration is concerned, we have no role in determining his ‘martyr’ status.”
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Bihar government in a quandary
Speaking at the airport after paying respects to Singh on May 13, Yadav had told reporters: “We are proud of Singh’s sacrifice. I will write to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting ‘martyr’ status for paramilitary personnel who die in the line of duty. They should be honoured the same way as soldiers from the army, navy and the air force. CAPF personnel often don’t get the recognition they deserve.”
These remarks and the reports published in multiple news outlets, many of which simply amplified FirstBiharJharkhand’s claim without any original reporting and fact-checking, raised the hopes of Singh’s family for additional financial assistance.
The state government is now in a fix because Singh’s family waits for what was promised to them, even though the announcement was rolled back. “It feels humiliating to have to ask for what was promised. We never went to the Chief Minister or the ministers seeking help, the help was announced by them,” said Anjali.
The family’s demands include a job for the next of kin (his wife), and the transfer of his brother (a railway loco pilot) to a location closer to home in Siwan.