A Gallantry Award Winner

That motivates me

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

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By: Anonymous

"Do not come up, I will handle them"

-Major Sandeep's last words.

INTRODUCTION
Sandeep Unnikrishnan was a brave officer in the Elite 51 Special Action Group of the National
security in the Indian Army, who was very unfortunately, martyred during the horrendous
terrorist attack on 26th November, 2008, also called 26/11 on mumbai. He died, serving and
protecting his nation, earning him Ashoka Chakra on 26th January, 2009.

About Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Mr. K. Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi Unnikrishnan were blessed with their only child,
Sandeep Unnikrishnan on 15th March, 1997 in Kozhikode, Kerala.
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He was dedicated towards his dream to join the Indian Army from a very early age and got
recommended for National Defence Academy in the year 1995 and joined the 94th court of
NDA. His NDA friends recall him as "selfless", "generous" and a "calm and composed" person.
"He never knew the word 'quit'. He just kept going," recalled one of his buddies. "The army was
his life. In his room in Bangalore, he had a collage of photos of each of his coursemates and
from life in NDA. He took it everywhere with him." Said Mr. S Kaul. "He was always very calm
and composed. We ex-NDAs have a short fuse but I never saw Unni angry."

On 12th June, 1999, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in Bihar Legimentry's 7th Battalion
(infantry). After a very short period of time, he got the chance to participate in 'Operation
Vijay'. Right after the Kargil war, on 12th June 2002, he was promoted as a 'Major'.

When and How did It all Start?

10 gunmen of ' Lashkar-e-Taiba' took the vessel Al Husseini and set sail from Karachi, Pakistan.
On their way, they captured an Indian Trawler 'Kuber' and held the captain, Amar Singh
Solanki, as hostage andkilled him off as they reached the Indian coast. Then, they headed
towards 'Gateway of India' and by 19:00, they hit the shore and separated their ways into 5
paths. This operation was also called 'Black Tornado'.

They attacked multiple carefully-selected structures in south Mumbai, armed with automatic
machine guns and grenades: a cluttered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station
and the Albless Hospital; two five-star hotel complexes – the Taj Palace in Colaba and the
Trident-Oberoi in Nariman Point; Leopold Café, and Chabad House, a Jewish convent, also in
Colaba. The attack went on for 3 consecutive days.

Taj hotel, the iconic symbol of Mumbai, built 118 years ago in antagonism to the British rule
was about to become the icon of the terror of the 'Black Tornado' attack. An anonymous
survivor of the attack in the Taj Palace stated, "The blasts were very loud. They reportedly ran
with the backpacks on their backs and guns in their hands. And we were told that there will be
speculation to figure out how many explosives they might have in their bags."

Very soon, the hotel's security manager called the police force for help and eventually, the
harbour craft, 'Vahini' arrived at MARCOS Special Forces Base. Major Unnikrishnan was a part
of it. Armed with AK-47 and MP5 sub-machine guns and 9 mm pistols in their thighs, they were
summoned to Mumbai. 02:00 am at night, the force arrived at the Taj Hotel and were given a
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brief summary of the situation. They gave them an A-4 size sheet blueprint of the structure of
the palace but it wasn't clear but they went inside the building, trusting their intuition.

MARCOS team silently made their way in as the terrorists rushed out from various exists and
the team gained entry. Their main priority being to evacuate the citizens as soon as possible.

MARCOS team successfully saved more than 300 innocent lives.

Major Unnikrishnan and Major Jodha, after saving several women from the 3rd floor, were
moving through a staircase as Major Jodha was shot my 8 bullets altogether by the terrorists.
Major Unnikrishnan, very bravely jumped in, to save him by dragging him out of the line of fire.
He asked his men not to come up and that he can handle them. Those were, sadly, his last
words. As soon as he went on to take down the first gunman, he was surprised by a merciless
burst of firing, killing him on the stop, saving everyone's lives.

"I don't want to die an ordinary death. When I go, the whole nation shall remember me." -Major
Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Conclusion: Unnikrishnan as an Motivation

Unnikrishnan was an inspiration and motivation to his colleagues and a very loyal patriot to
India. His dedicated service to the nation has over the past decade inspired many young men to
join the services. He taught us discipline, selflessness and patriotism. He was a man who put
his country before himself without a second thought and this motivated me and many others to
serve their country in need like him. He was shot on his right arm and yet, he kept on fighting,
till his very last breath, making a supreme sacrifice for the nation.