Four other soldiers, who also laid down their lives valiantly fighting the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash on June 15 last year, have been conferred with Vir Chakra awards posthumously
Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar regiment who led from the front against the brutal Chinese attacks in Galwan Valley in June last year, was on November 23 posthumously awarded Mahavir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind for displaying “exemplary courage” during the clash.
Mahavir Chakra is the second-highest military award for acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy. Four other soldiers, Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren, Havildar (Gunner) K. Palani, Naik Deepak Singh and Sepoy Gurtej Singh, who also laid down their lives valiantly fighting the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash on June 15 last year, have been conferred with Vir Chakra awards posthumously.