NSG havaldar & Major Unnikrishnan cremated

Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 9:11 am

“Do not come up, I will handle them”, these were probably the last words which Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj Hotel. “Major Unnikrishnan was rescuing an injured commando when he was hit,” Director-General of NSG J K Dutt said after he announced mission accomplished at the Taj and quoted the slain major as telling his crack team, “Do not come up, I will handle them”.

“During the operation, when an commando got injured Unnikrishnan arranged for his evacuation and started chasing the terrorists himself,” a senior National Security Guards (NSG) official said in New Delhi. The terrorists escaped to another floor of the hotel and during the chase Unnikrishnan was seriously injured and succumbed to his injuries, the official said. It was Unnikrishnan’s second deputation with the elite NSG force.

Unnikrishnan was commissioned in the 7th Bihar Regiment of the Army in 1999 and he first served the NSG during 1996-99 and again came back to it’s 51 Special Action Group (SAG) in January 2007. The 31-year-old officer was the lone son of his parents who hailed from Bangalore. The other brave heart, Havildar Gajender Singh, was a specialist in heli-borne operations.

“Gajender Singh was chosen for the Nariman House operation as he qualified for the job extremely well. He was leading the slithering act and its follow up action,” the NSG official said while paying homage to the slain commandos at the NSG headquarters in the national capital.

“While clearing the fourth floor of the Jewish residential complex, Singh spotted a terrorist fleeing into a room and engaged him by fire. As he closed on the militant, he was hit by grenade splinters… unmindful of the injuries, he moved forward and then came under a hail of bullets,” another official said. Singh (36), belonged to the 10 PARA (Special Forces) and was about to complete an year with the “Black Cats”. He hailed from Ganeshpur in Dehradun. Singh is survived by his wife, a daughter (10) and a son (12).

Meanwhile, NSG havaldar Gajendra Singh, who was killed during the operations at the Jewish centre, Nariman House in Mumbai, was cremated at his native village Ganeshpur on Saturday with full military honours. The funeral pyre was lit by Singh’s son Gaurav Bisht amid a three-gun salute by a unit of the Gorkha Rifles.

Several state ministers including health minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and agriculture minister Trivendra Singh Rawat attended the funeral. B L Joshi and Chief Minister B C Khanduri condoled the death of NSG commando Gajendra Singh. Khanduri also visited Gajendra’s home and expressed his condolence over the demise of the jawan. He announced a compensation of Rs five lakh for the family. He said the state government will also render monetary help for the education of the children of jawan.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

NSG havaldar & Major Unnikrishnan cremated

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