Colonel Santosh Babu cremated In Suryapet with State honours

Suryapet June 18 (HS) Colonel Santosh Babu, who was martyred near Galwan valley in Ladakh in a brutal face  off with Chinese troops on Monday night, was cremated with full state and military honours at his family’s agriculture farm near Kesaram village of Suryapet on Thursday noon . Thousands of people gathered near the residence of the braveheart in Vidyanagar of Suryapet to pay last respects to the martyr.   It may be recalled that Babu’s mortal remains were brought to Suryapet by road after they were brought to the city by a special aircraft on Wednesday evening.

At the farm house , military officers paid tributes to Santosh Babu’s in the presence of Babu’s father Upendra , wife Santoshi and his son and daughter and other family members. A 21 gun salute was given to him by the 16 Bihar regiment of the Indian Army, of which Babu was the commanding officer.

A funeral procession was taken out from the Babu’s residence in Suryapet to his farm house, which is 7 kms away. Thousands of residents had lined up on both sides of the road to pay their last respects to Babu. They raised slogans like Vande Mataram and Santosh Babu Zindabad, Santosh Babu Amar Rahe. Rose petals and flowers were showered on the convoy carrying the mortal remains of Lt Col Babu.

All business institutions and government offices in Suryapet remained shut as mark of respect to the martyr. State Congress president Uttam Kumar Reddy ,BJP State president Bandi Sanjay, former Defense Minister Pallam Raju and ministers of the ruling party also paid their tributes .

District Collector Vinay krishna, District Superintendent of Police and Army Major General and other civilians were present at the farm house, to receive the body wrapped in the National Flag.