Naib Subedar Satnam Singh SM

Naib Subedar Satnam Singh hailed from Bhojraj village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. Son of Shri Jagir Singh and Smt Kashmir Kaur, Nb Sub Satnam Singh was born on 18 Jan 1979 and had an elder brother. He followed the footsteps of his elder brother Sub Sukhchain Singh and joined the Army after completing his schooling. He joined the Army on 21 Aug 1995 at the age of 17 years and was recruited into the Regiment of Artillery, an important combat support arm of the Indian Army.

After serving for some years he got married to Ms. Jaswinder Kaur and the couple was blessed with a daughter Sandeep Kaur and a son Prabhjot Singh. By the year 2020, he had put in over 24 years of service and had been promoted to the rank of Naib Subedar. In the service career spanning over two decades, Nb Sub Satnam Singh had served in various operational areas and developed into a professionally competent and dependable junior commissioned officer.

Operation Snow Leopard: 15 June 2020

During June 2020, Naib Subedar Satnam Singh’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, Naib Subedar Satnam Singh and other soldiers from 3 Med Regt 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 Naib Subedar Satnam Singh got seriously injured. Naib Subedar Satnam Singh, the CO, Col Santosh Babu, and 18 other soldiers later succumbed to their injuries and were martyred. The other brave hearts included Nk Deepak Kumar, Nb Sub Nanduram Soren, Nb Sub Mandeep Singh, Hav K Palani, Hav Bipul Roy, 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. Nb Sub Satnam Singh was a valiant soldier and a gritty JCO who laid down his life in the line of his duty. Naib Subedar Satnam Singh was given the gallantry award, “Sena Medal” on 26 Jan 2021 for his exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice.

Nb Sub Satnam Singh is survived by his father Shri Jagir Singh, mother Smt Kashmir Kaur, wife Smt Jaswinder Kaur, daughter Sandeep Kaur, son Prabhjot Singh and brother Sub Sukhchain Singh.