26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks: It’s been 14 years since the deadly 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai which shook the nation to its core. On November 26, 2008, 10 armed terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba arrived by ship in the financial capital of India and launched one of the most vicious attacks in the nation’s history, inflicting 300 injuries and killing 166 people. There is still blood on the ground from the militants’ attacks on well-known city landmarks like the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Oberoi Trident, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Members of the Indian security forces, three Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway officials, and foreign nationals were among those who perished. Many brave hearts lost their lives during the counter-offensive. Today, we remember Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who attained martyrdom in the 26/11 attack.
Who Was Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan?
Major Sandeep attained martyrdom while battling the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. He was leading a team of NSG commandos to flush out terrorists from the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai when he was fatally wounded
He was conferred the Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peace time gallantry award, on 26 January 2009.
Remembering Major Sandeep in an emotional interaction with a leading daily, his father said that he had a winning attitude and liked Sachin Tendulkar.
“Sandeep always wanted our country to win. When India lost a match, he used to be very disappointed. He also used to console me whenever an ISRO project failed. He did not like defeat,” the retired ISRO officer said.
Major Sandeep supported many charities
Mr Unnikrishnan said, “I did not know about it. Only after he had gone I realised it. Going through his bank balance, I only found ₹ 3,000 to ₹ 4,000, though he was drawing a decent salary”.
“I thought he could not save much because he could have been buying costly branded products. But his colleagues talked about his charity. One of his colleagues told me that he had borne all health expenses of his mother, who was suffering from a spine problem,” he said.
Also, Sandeep was regularly donating money to a number of charitable institutions. “I realised this when I started receiving reminders on renewal of donations after his departure,” he added.
Major Sandeep’s last words
The last message of the major to his personnel while carrying out the operation was, “Don’t come up, I will handle them.”
“Sandeep used to say he did not want to see a mother weeping over his colleague’s body and preferred his mother to bear the loss,” said Mr Unnikrishnan.
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