Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who has been awarded Mahavir Chakra posthumously by the government on Monday, had laid down his life in the fight with Chinese troops in Ladakh.

He hailed from Suryapet district of Telangana. State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the nation bows before his supreme sacrifice.

"Acknowledging the valour of Col Santosh Babu, who lost his life in a fight with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash, the Government of India has awarded him posthumously with the 2nd highest wartime gallantry medal Mahavir Chakra. The nation bows before his supreme sacrifice," Sanjay, also a Member of Parliament, tweeted.

The colonel and 19 other soldiers of 16 Bihar Regiment were killed in the clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh on June 15 last year. He is survived by his wife Santoshi, nine-year-old daughter Abhigna and four-year-old son Anirudh.

Santosh, Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, had been serving on Indo-China border for last one-and-half year and his family was looking forward to his transfer to Hyderabad.

An alumni of Sainik School Korukonda and National Defence Academy, he got commissioned into the Bihar Regiment from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and went on to complete the prestigious Defence Service Staff Course from Wellington before taking over the command of his Battalion.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had, on June 20, visited Santosh Babu's house handed over the financial package announced by the state government. He handed over Rs 4 crore cheque to the Colonel's wife Santoshi and Rs 1 crore cheque to his parents, who requested him to deposit the amount for their granddaughter.

He also handed over to Santoshi letter of her appointment to Group-1 job and documents of allotment of a house site measuring 711 square yards in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. In November, the Telangana government appointed Santoshi as trainee collector.

(IANS)