Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was born on 15 March 1977 in Kozhikode, Kerala. Maj Sandeep Unnikrishnan came from a Nair family residing in Bangalore, where they had moved from Cheruvannur, in Kozhikode District of Kerala. He was the only son of retired ISRO officer K. Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi Unnikrishnan. Maj Unnikrishnan spent 14 years at the Frank Anthony Public School in Bangalore before graduating in 1995 in the Science stream. He wanted to join the Army, right from his school days and did well in school activities and sports events. He was also a member of the school choir and enjoyed watching movies.



Maj Unnikrishnan joined the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune, Maharashtra in 1995 and was a graduate of the 94th Course of NDA. His NDA friends remember him as “selfless”, “generous” and “calm and composed”. He was commissioned as a lieutenant to the 7th Battalion of the Bihar Regiment (Infantry) on 12 July 1999. After serving the Indian Army in different locations in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan during counter insurgencies for two terms, he was selected to join the National Security Guards. On completion of training, he was assigned to the Special Action Group (SAG) of NSG in January 2007 and participated in various operations of the NSG. During the ‘Ghatak course’ (at the Commando Wing (Infantry School), Belgaum), the most difficult course of the Army, Unnikrishnan topped the course, earning an “Instructor Grading” and commendation. He opted for the NSG commando service which he joined on deputation in 2006.



Major Sandeep also participated in Operation Vijay in July 1999 and was deployed at the forward posts in the face of heavy artillery firing and small arms fire by Pakistan troops. On the evening of 31 Dec 1999, Major Unnikrishnan led a team of six soldiers and managed to establish a post 200 meters from the opposing side against heavy opposition and fire.