A father of a 17-day old, a mother’s only son, and others who sacrificed their lives while fighting for India at the Galwan valley

A pall of gloom descended over the family and relatives of Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu, who was killed by Chinese troops during clashes, as his mortal remains arrived at his residence in Vidyanagar on June 18. A large number of people gathered to pay tribute to Babu — raising slogans of "Santosh Babu amar hai.”

Santosh Babu, from Suryapet’s Telangana, was among the 20 soldiers who lost their lives while fighting for India in the violent clash with China a few days ago. He is survived by his wife Santoshi and two children — a 9-year old girl and a 4-year old boy.

Babu was the only son of retired bank manager B.Upender and Manuja — who were hoping to see him in a month. He was due for transfer to Hyderabad and was looking for a school for his children.

Rajesh Orang's family in Belgaria village

West Bengal on June 17 mourned the loss of two of its brave sons — Rajesh Orang of Birbhum and Bipul Roy of Alipurduar — who were killed in clashes with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

"My son served the country and gave his life for it," was all that Subhas, Orang's distraught father, could say. Orang’s mother, Mamata, was so overwhelmed with emotion that she could hardly speak. The family was hoping to get Orang married when he came home on his next leave from duty.

Roy was a native of Bindi village in Alipurduar district's Totopara. He lived in Meerut with his wife and five-year-old daughter. Roy, 36, had joined the Army 19 years ago and was a havildar in the Bihar Regiment.

"He had come home about five months ago and had plans to construct a pucca house for the family here," Roy's brother said.

Jharkhand plunged into grief on Wednesday as the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley stripped the state of two of its bravehearts — Kundan Kumar Ojha and Ganesh Hansda.

Ojha, blessed with a daughter just 17 days ago, had promised his mother over the phone that he would be home as soon as he got leave from duty.

That was the last the family heard from the 28-year-old soldier. He and Hansda were among the 20 Army personnel killed in a fierce clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night.

The second of the four children of farmer Ravi Shankar Ojha and Bhawani Devi from Dihari village in Sahibganj district, Ojha had joined the Army in 2011. He had tied the knot a year-and-a-half ago.

Sepoy Ankush Thakur was also among the 20 Indian Army soldiers who died during the violent clash between India and China on June 15.

The 21-year-old sepoy was a resident of the village in Bhoranj subdivision. Thakur was born on November 4, 1998 and was recruited to the Punjab Regiment in December 2018 and formally joined the regiment after finishing his training ten months ago.

His father and grandfather had also served in the Indian Army. Thakur has a younger brother who studies in class six.

The death of 20 soldiers have also triggered a large number of protest in the country demanding justice.

Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren
Naib Subedar Mandeep Singj
Naib Subedar Satnam Singh
Havildar K Palani
HavildarSunil Kumar
Naik Nk Deepak Kumar
Sepoy Aman Kumar
Sepoy Ganesh Ram
Sepoy Chandrakanta Pradha
Sepoy Gurbinder
Sepoy Gurtej Singh
Sepoy Chandan Kumar
Kundan Kumar
Jai Kishore Singh

(Note: We will update this story as and when we receive more information about the other soldiers who died in the clash)