26/11 martyr Unnikrishnan’s uncle dies of burn

K Mohanan, uncle of 26/11 martyr Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who set himself on fire to protest the Government’s alleged apathy towards the victims of Mumbai attack, died of his burns, police said Saturday.

The 56-year-old had burned himself after pouring kerosene at Vijay Chowk on Thursday. He breathed his last around 11:55 PM on Friday at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here.

Mohanan from Kozhikode in Kerala poured inflammable on him and burned himself before Gate No 4 of Parliament House near Vijay Chowk on Feb 3 at 6 PM in protest of the Government’s attitude towards 26/11 victims of terror attack.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan fell to terrorist bullets while leading an army team to evacuate hostages inside the Taj Hotel.

Mohanan, the younger brother of Sandeep’s father, had told his family that he was leaving for Ernakulam but landed in New Delhi for self-immolation.

Sandeep’s father K Unnikrishnan had earlier said, “We are happy with the way the government has treated our son. We have no grievances. Mohanan was very fond of Sandeep. We thought that he had overcome the grief, but he ended up doing this.”

Doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital made all attempt to revive Mohanan, who was on ventilator, but the burns were almost cent per cent.

K Unnikrishnan and his wife – parents of the 26/11 Mumbai attack martyr major Sandeep Unnikrishnan – arrived in New Delhi on Friday.

“We got to know about the self-immolation bid from news channels. Mohanan did not contact us or anyone in the family before the incident. He left from Kozhikode on Jan 30 for business-related work,” said K Unnikrishnan. Mohanan, who was close to Sandeep, committed suicide due to anger and frustration.

K Unnikrishnan said his brother was carrying a letter addressed to Sandeep, his own family and the government. “He was not depressed or ill but frustrated with the system,” said the bereaved brother.

Police said the letters written in Malayalam blamed the government for its failure in prosecuting the perpetrators of the terror attack.

“Why is the government late in introducing a bill in the Parliament against terrorism? Democracy should be for the well-being of the nation, and it should not make way for terrorism,” the letter said.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was the team commander of 51 SAG deployed in the operation at the Taj Hotel to flush out the terrorists from the building and rescue the hostages.