20 soldiers who died came from 11 states. While CO, Col B Santosh Babu, was from Telangana, the others came from Bihar, UP, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It was India fighting back.
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‘Humble, A leader who took care of his juniors'
Col Bikkumalla Santosh Babu 37,
Telangana
The Commanding Officer(CO) of the 16 Bihar Regiment, his seniors and fellow Telugu-speaking officers in the Army recall, was known to be a humble, soft-spoken person, and a leader who took care of his juniors. One of the last conversations with Babu, an officer recalled, was regarding the school admission of his two children in Secunderabad where he was posted next, as he looked forward to serving in his home state.
His remains arrived in Hyderabad Wednesday evening.
Col Babu's wife, B Santoshi, and two children, Anirudh and Abigna, who have been living in Delhi reached Hyderabad Wednesday morning.
Col S Sreenivasa Rao, a senior colleague who is from the same town, said he was a leader who took care of his juniors. “He was down to earth and not at all aggressive in nature. A very…