Colonel Santosh Babu was one of three Indian soldiers who died in the “violent confrontation”
New Delhi:
Indian soldiers killed in “violent confrontation” with Chinese soldiers late Monday evening in Galwan Valley in Ladakh were identified as Colonel B Santosh Babu, who was from Suryapet to Telangana, Havildar Palani from Tamil Nadu and Sepoy Ojha from Jharkhand.
Army sources told GalacticGaming that they had not been shot but died in a physical confrontation, involving stones and batons, with Chinese troops entering Indian territory.
“There was no shooting. No firearm was used. It was a violent hand-to-hand fight,” said an anonymous officer quoted by the AFP (Agence France Presse) news agency. ).
The clash took place just as the Chinese troops were preparing to withdraw in accordance with an agreement between the two parties. The colonel was reportedly attacked with stones and Indian soldiers retaliated, which resulted in close combat without weapons.
The soldiers did not disengage until after midnight.
Havildar Palani was originally from Tamil Nadu
India responded Tuesday evening, saying the two sides had suffered losses “which could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level had been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side”.
The government also said it was firmly convinced of the need for peace and tranquility in the border areas but that it was “firmly committed to guaranteeing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India”.
These are the first deaths involving the two soldiers since 1975, when four soldiers from the Assam Rifles patrol group were ambushed and killed on the Indian side of the Tulung La Pass in Arunachal Pradesh.
Sepoy Ojha was from Jharkhand
The confrontation took place high up in the snowy desert of Ladakh, marking a disturbing escalation of tensions that have been brewing for more than six weeks now – since Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed in the Pangong Lake region of the territory of the ‘Union on May 5 and 6. .
An army statement said senior military officials from both sides were meeting to defuse the situation; talks between the two sides had taken place before the violence on Monday evening and “a lot of disengagement” had taken place, according to the army chief, General MM Naravane.
China, in an aggressive statement after the incident, accused India of crossing the border and “attacking Chinese personnel,” the AFP news agency reported.
With the contribution of AFP
