At least 20 Indian soldiers including a commanding officer who were posted in Galway Valley along with sepoys, havildars, and subedars, “died while saving the country” from Chinese troops on Monday night.
The Indian Army released a statement on Tuesday afternoon noting that 3 officers died during the violent face-off with China. However, the Indian army also announced that 17 more soldiers succumbed to their critical injuries since they were exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.
The skirmish that took place on Monday night is the first time in the last 45 years that a soldier has died along the Line of Actual Control which is not defined in Ladakh. The Army also noted that it was committed to saving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
Source: timesofindia.com
There have been various speculations that some soldiers are missing and have fallen into the freezing river in the valley. But the Army neither confirmed this nor mentioned the injuries or deaths sustained by the Chinese troops.
The combat occurred after Commanding Officer Col Santosh Babu discovered that Chinese soldiers did not follow through on the de-escalation process agreed upon by both sides during earlier talks.
One of the reputed news agencies, The Print, had reported that this class took place on a narrow slope and some fell into the confluence of Shyok and Galwan rivers. This face-off also included pelting stones and physical fights with iron rods and barbed-wire. The soldiers who fell into the river died due to hypothermia.
The bodies of all the soldiers were taken by a military aircraft from Leh on Wednesday afternoon and were carried by road to their respective hometowns.
Source: Indiatoday.com
The Indian Army released details of all the 20 soldiers who died in action on Monday. Among them, there was a 21-year-old sepoy born on 4 November 1998. His name was Ankush. Ganesh Hansda was the youngest of all as he was only 20 years old. Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha died before his 27th birthday on June 18.
Sepoys Chandan Kumar, Gurtej Singh, and Gurbinder were only 22 years old and Sepoy Rajesh Orang turned 26 on April 5 while Sepoy Chandrakantha Pradhan was only 28 years old.
CuriousKeeda pays a tribute to all those soldiers who died while protecting India. Below is a list of the 20 soldiers.
Source: in.pinterest.com
1. Commanding Officer Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu from Hyderabad, Telangana
2. Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren from Mayurbhanj, Odisha
3. Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh from Patiala, Punjab
4. Naib Subedar Satnam Singh (driver) from Gurdaspur, Punjab
5. Havildar (gunner) K Palani from Madurai, Tamil Nadu
6. Havildar Sunil Kumar from Patna, Bihar
7. Havildar Bipul Roy from Meerut City, Uttar Pradesh
8. Naik (Na) Deepak Kumar from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh
9. Sepoy Rajesh Orang from Birbhum, West Bengal
10. Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha from Sahibganj, Jharkhand
11. Sepoy Ganesh Ram from Kanker, Chhattisgarh
12. Sepoy Chandrakanta Pradhan from Kandhamal, Odisha
13. Sepoy Ankush from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
14. Sepoy Gurbinder from Sangrur, Punjab
15. Sepoy Gurtej Singh from Mansa, Punjab
16. Sepoy Chandan Kumar from Bhojpur, Bihar
17. Sepoy Kundan Kumar from Saharsa, Bihar
18. Sepoy Aman Kumar from Samastipur, Bihar
19. Sepoy Jai Kishor Singh from Vaishali, Bihar
20. Sepoy Ganesh Hansda from East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Thank you for protecting us from cruel Chinese Troops.
Jai Hind!
Source: ThePrint.com