JOIN USGalwan clash: Colonel Babu's statue unveiled in Telangana's Suryapet
A nine feet tall bronze statue of Colonel Bikkumalla Santhosh Babu was unveiled in Suryapet town of Telangana on Tuesday.
Colonel Babu, the commanding officer of the 16th Bihar Regiment, died along with 19 other soldiers in a violent clash with the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley, along the LAC in eastern Ladakh on June 15 last year.
The nation's second-highest military medal Mahavir Chakra was conferred on Babu (posthumously) during the 2021 Republic Day events, for his gallantry in leading the Indian soldiers against the Chinese attack.
The statue, erected at the Court Chourasta of his hometown, was unveiled by Telangana's municipal administration, IT and industries minister KT Rama Rao, in the presence of Colonel Babu's widow Santoshi, and other family members.
A few days after Babu’s mortal remains were consigned to flames near Suryapet with full military honours, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had visited the town to console the bereaved family and pay tributes to the martyr.
The CM handed over a letter appointing Santoshi as a Group-I officer in the Telangana government. He handed over the documents allotting a 711 square-yards house site in the Banjara Hills area of Hyderabad to her. The CM also handed a cheque of Rs 4 crore to Santoshi and Rs 1 crore to Babu’s parents.
The CM hailed the Colonel “for sacrificing his valuable life for the well being of the country."