Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of 16 Bihar Regiment who was among 20 Indian soldiers killed in a “violent face-off” with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on June 15 last year, has been posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra, the second-highest gallantry award granted in wartime.

Five soldiers who fought in Galwan have been awarded the Vir Chakra, the third highest wartime gallantry award. Four of them were killed in the battle — Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren, Havildar K. Palani, Sepoy Gurtej Singh and Naik Deepak Singh. Havildar Tejinder Singh, who survived, is the fifth recipient.

Subedar Sanjiv Kumar of the Special Forces has been posthumously awarded with Kirti Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of the Mahavir Chakra, for his supreme sacrifice against terrorists in April.