Galwan valley clash: Suryapet cries for its martyred son

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, June 16

A pal of gloom descended over Suryapet town of Telangana as the news of the martyrdom of Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 16 Bihar regiment along with two soldiers reached the city following a violent face-off with the Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley in Ladakh last night.

According to the family Colonel Babu died after hand-to-hand combat. He had been posted on the India-China border in Ladakh for the past 18 months and is survived by wife Santoshi and two kids, a daughter and a son.

Talking to the media the officer’s mother Manjula said: “I am both sad and happy,”. With tears in her eyes she added, “I am happy that my son sacrificed his life for the country but as a mother, I grieve his loss. He is my only son.”.  Son of a Physical Education Teacher, he was a resident of Vidya Nagar in Suryapet and had studied at Korukonda Sainik School, Hyderabad.

Expressing her condolences, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan wrote, “Let us pay our homage to Col Santosh Babu. The Valiant officer made the ultimate sacrifice today at Galwan Valley. I pray for all the martyrs and their grieving families. May God bless their souls (sic).”

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami tweeted condolences to the family of Palani from Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, who was also killed in the violent face-off with Chinese soldiers at the LAC. 40-year-old Palani belonged to Kadukkalar village in Ramanathapuram.