Barely two months after the second anniversary of Mumbai terror attack, tragedy revisited K. Unnikrishnan, father of 26/11 martyr Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, as his younger brother, K. Mohanan, succumbed to injuries sustained in a self-immolation bid two days ago outside Parliament House here. Mohanan died around Friday midnight at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
The doctors at RML said that Mr Mohanan’s condition was being constantly monitored but he suffered a cardiac arrest at 11.55 pm on Friday night. His body was handed over to Mr Unnikrishnan following post-mortem on Saturday afternoon. According to the doctors, Mr Mohanan had suffered nearly 98 per cent burns and his condition had remained critical throughout.
Mr Mohanan had reached gate No. 4 of Parliament House, near Vijay Chowk, on Thursday evening around 6 pm, doused himself with kerosene and set himself afire. Some people present at the spot tried to douse the fire and informed the police. He was rushed to RML Hospital where he was admitted with severe burns. A note written in Malayalam was recovered from the spot in which he had said that he was not happy with the way the government was treating the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack victims. Mr Mohanan was close to Sandeep, a major with National Security Guard, and was probably not able to overcome his loss, said a police officer.
On Friday, Mr Unnikrishnan reached the capital and told mediapersons that he had nothing against the government as it had given due respect to his martyr son. However, he wished that the government could do more for the other victims. He said that the family thought that Mr Mohanan had overcome the trauma of losing Sandeep, to whom he was very close.
Earlier, Mr Mohanan had left his residence in Kozhikode telling his family members — he is survived by his wife, son and daughter — that he was going to Ernakulum but instead reached the national capital. A ticket found on his person indicated that he reached Delhi on January 30, the police said.
Major Sandeep had died in the assault on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai fighting against terrorists in the November 26-29, 2008 attack.