Hav Bipul Roy SM

Hav Bipul Roy hailed from Bindipara village in Alipurduar district of West Bengal. Son of Shri Niren Roy and Smt Kusumbala Devi, Hav Bipul Roy was born on 02 Mar 1986 and was the eldest among two siblings. He was passionate about joining the armed forces since his early childhood and continued to follow his passion while growing up. Eventually, he joined the army after completing his education in Bindipara BFP School in the year 2005 at the age of 19 years. He was recruited into the Corps of Signals, considered to be the nervous system of the Indian Army that provides communication during peace as well as operations.

After completing a few years of service he got married to Ms. Rumpa in 2011 and the couple had a daughter Tamanna. Hav Bipul Roy was very affable and had a helping nature which endeared him to many people. By the year 2020, he had put in around 15 years of service and had served in various operational areas with challenging terrain and work conditions. In 2020, Hav Bipul Roy was serving with the 81 Mountain Brigade Signals Regiment, responsible to meet the requirement of communications for the Brigade.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Hav Bipul Roy’s unit was deployed in eastern Ladakh close to the Line of Actual Control(LAC) as part of Operation Snow Leopard. Since early June the tension along the LAC was building up due to construction work in Galwan valley close to the road going from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie. The Chinese had a serious objection to the construction of a bridge across the Galwan river into the Aksai Chin area. The area held strategic importance to India as well as China as it dominated the road from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie an airstrip of great military significance to India. There had been many rounds of talks between senior military officials from both sides to diffuse the tensions. On 15 June 2020 night, hectic Chinese activities were noticed across the bridge in Galwan valley and the Indian Army decided to take up the matter with Chinese forces to ask them to respect the LAC and adhere to the position as agreed earlier during the talks.

Considering the gravity of the situation, Col Santosh Babu the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar battalion deployed in the area decided to lead the negotiations. However, an altercation during the discussion raised the tempers leading to a scuffle. Soon the scuffle turned into a violent clash with the Chinese soldiers attacking Col Santosh Babu and his men with deadly clubs and rods. The Indian soldiers were greatly outnumbered and the Chinese soldiers seemed to be prepared for the attack. As the clashes escalated, Hav Bipul Roy and other soldiers too joined the beleaguered Indian troops to take on the Chinese soldiers. The clashes went on for many hours during which many Indian soldiers including Hav Bipul Roy got seriously injured. Hav Bipul Roy, the CO, Col Santosh Babu, and 18 other soldiers later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. The other brave hearts included Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh Nk Deepak Kumar, Nb Sub Nanduram Soren, Nb Sub Satnam Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Sunil Kumar, Sep Ganesh Hansda, Sep Ganesh Ram, Sep Chandan Kumar, Sep CK Pradhan, Sep Gurbinder Singh, Sep Aman Kumar, Sep Kundan Kumar, Sep Rajesh Orang, Sep KK Ojha, Sep Jai Kishore Singh, Sep Gurtej Singh, and Sep Ankush. Hav Bipul Roy was a valiant and dedicated soldier who laid down his life in the line of his duty. Hav Bipul Roy was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Hav Bipul Roy is survived by his father Shri Niren Roy, mother Smt Kusumbala Devi, wife Smt Rumpa Roy, daughter Tamanna and brother Shri Bakul Roy.