Acknowledging the valour of Col Santosh Babu, who lost his life in a fight with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash, the government will award him posthumously with Mahaveer Chakra, India’s second-highest military award for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy on Republic Day tomorrow, an official announcement by the Defence Ministry said on Monday.
The Galwan valley clash took place on June 15 last year when Indian troops led by Colonel Babu took on the Chinese troops near the patrolling point 14 area.
India lost 20 troops in the fiercest clash between the two sides in a long time while the Chinese also suffered significant casualties.
The country's largest paramilitary force CRPF has been bestowed with the highest number of 73 gallantry medals for undertaking counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir and in various Maoist violence-affected states.
PRESIDENTIAL CHAKRA SERIES Awardees: REPUBLIC DAY 2021
Col Bikumalla Santosh Babu
(16 BIHAR) : Mahaveer Chakra (P)
Sub Sanjiv Kumar
(4 PARA (SF)) : Kirti Chakra (P)
Nb Sub Nuduram Soren
(16 BIHAR) : Veer Chakra (P)
Hav K Palani
(81 Field) : Veer Chakra(P)
Hav Tejinder Singh
(3 Medium) : Veer Chakra
Nk Deepak Singh
(16 Bihar) : Veer Chakra(P)
Sep Gurtej Singh
(3 Punjab) : Veer Chakra (P)
Maj Anuj Sood
(21 RR) : Shaurya Chakra (P)
Rfn Pranab Jyoti Das
(6 Assam Rifles) : Shaurya Chakra
PTR Sonam Tshering Tamang (4 Para (SF)): Shaurya Chakra
It also earned four Kirti Chakras announced by the Ministry of Defence, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said in a statement.
Inspector Pintu Kumar Singh, head constable Shyam Narain Singh Yadava, and constable Vinod Kumar of the 92nd battalion have been posthumously decorated with the Kirti Chakra, the second-highest peacetime gallantry medal.
The three laid down their lives in a fierce gunfight with terrorists that raged for almost 34 hours in Jammu-Kashmir's Kupwara in February 2019. Two foreign terrorists were killed in this gun battle that claimed the lives of five security forces personnel, including two from JK police's special operations group (SOG).
Deputy Commandant Rahul Mathur, who was grievously wounded during a counter-terrorist operation in Batmaloo, Srinagar in September last year has also been awarded the Kirti Chakra, the force said.
The officer, chief of its house intervention team in the Kashmir Valley, was under treatment at the 92 base hospital for about 10 days after he was shot twice in the chest and abdomen during this action. He is "back in action" now and has resumed duty, a senior officer said.