Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu was awarded the country's second-highest military gallantry honour, the Maha Vir Chakra, posthumously on Tuesday for fighting Chinese soldiers “till his last breath”. Colonel Babu's mother and wife received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The investiture ceremony also witnessed the awarding of five Vir Chakras, four of which were posthumous, for the fighting in Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020. The awards were announced on the eve of Republic Day earlier this year.
Col Santosh Babu accorded Mahavir Chakra posthumously for resisting Chinese Army attack while establishing an observation post in the face of the enemy in Galwan valley in Ladakh sector during Operation Snow Leopard.
His mother and wife receive the award from President. pic.twitter.com/oxonlAvEWL
— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2021
Colonel Babu was the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar regiment which was deployed in Galwan Valley for Operation Snow Leopard. India and China had been involved in a military standoff from early May last year, and the two sides had been discussing disengagement. It was during this period that troops from both sides got involved in a hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley, near Patrolling Point (PP) 14 , on June 15, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including Babu, and at least four Chinese troops.
Babu's citation mentioned that as the CO of his unit, he was tasked with establishing…
