Sandeep Unnikrishnan
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC (15 March 1977 - 28 November 2008) was an Indian Army officer. He was born in Cheruvannur, Kozhikode District, Kerala later his family moved to Bangalore. He was the only son of retired ISRO officer K. Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi Unnikrishnan. Sandeep spent 14 years at The Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore before completing his school in 1995 in the ISC Science stream. He wanted to join the Army from his childhood. He was a good athlete.
Sandeep joined the National Defence Academy, Pune, Maharashtra in 1995. On 12th June 1999, he graduated from Indian Military Academy and got commissioned as Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion of the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army. He was also part of Operation Vijay in July 1999, Sandeep was married to Neha. Sandeep was serving in the elite 51 Special Action Group of the National Security Guards on deputation. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan led the Operation Black Tornado launched on 27th November 2008 to flush out terrorists from Hotel Taj Mahal, Mumba. He also rescued 14 hostages from there. During the operation, his team came under intense hostile fire, in which one of his team member Commando Sunil Kumar Jodha got grievously injured. Major Sandeep pinned down the terrorists with accurate fire and rescued the injured commando to safety. In the process, he was shot in his right arm. Despite his injuries, he continued to fight the terrorists till his last breath. His last word was "Don't come up, I will handle them". He was martyred in the action for his nation. He was consequently awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award, on 26 January 2009 by the president Pratibha Patil.