“He was one of the finest men I have met. I guess God requires the finest, that’s why we had to lose him,” NSG commando Sarvesh Sharma said, choking with tears, as he waited to collect the last remains of his best friend and officer Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan (31) at the Hebbal crematorium in Bangalore on Saturday evening.Sharma was part of an NSG team that came to Bangalore with the body of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. When Sandeep’s body was brought to his residence and taken to the crematorium, hundreds of people, including school children, gathered to catch a glimpse of the soldier on his last journey.At his home, while his mother Dhanalakshmi clung on to her son’s body, dignitaries like the Karnataka Chief Minister, former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan and the state police paid their last respects. Posters declaring Major Unnikrishnan a martyr adorned the highway. With activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, a pro-Kannada group, hijacking the crematorium with slogan shouting against Pakistan and cheers for the martyr, much of the somberness that Sandeep’s friends and family had wished for was lost. Colonel C.E. Fernandes, Commanding Officer of the seventh Bihar Regiment from where Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was deployed, was among those who could not witness the cremation as the KRV activists thronged the crematorium. He described Sandeep’s distinguishing quality as his honesty. “He always worked in the framework of the rules,” he said. However, he expressed anguish at the hijacking of the funeral. “Instead of shouting slogans, we would be glad if more people like Sandeep led from the front,” he said. While Sandeep’s NSG colleagues who came with his body said they did not know how exactly the officer was killed, the DIG of NSG L Mohanty said Sandeep was leading a taskforce at the Taj Mahal Hotel to free the civilian hostages. He was killed when he took a bullet while trying to save an injured colleague, the DIG said.“Sandeep qualified to be a part of the NSG because he was mentally and physically fit for the job. His two-year term was due to end around January,” said Col Srikumar, a recently retired Bihar Regiment officer and among Sandeep’s first bosses. A music teacher from Sandeep’s school, V Narayanswamy, described him as a “a pleasant boy who always had a crew cut even in school”.A young 19-year-old cousin of the deceased officer, Mrinal, who had arrived from Kozhikode in Kerala, said Sandeep was an idol and a father figure to him. “When he came to Kozhikode he would behave like all of us kids—playing pranks on elders or playing games with us,” he said.NSG colleague and friend Sarvesh Sharma said, “He was looking forward to a new house which the Army was allotting to him. He was also looking forward to the NSG’s Raising Day and was keen on buying a suit for the occasion. He said he did not have enough money and would wait till December 1, when his salary would come. December 1 will never come for him now.”
