Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC (15 March 1977 – 28 November 2008) was an Indian Army officer, who was serving in the 51 Special Action Group of the National Security Guard on deputation.

[8][9] Maj. Unnikrishnan attended The Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore,[10] graduating in 1995 in the ISC Science stream.

[13] Maj. Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC(P) joined the National Defence Academy (India) (NDA), Pune, Maharashtra in 1995.

On the evening of 31 December 1999,[16] he led a team of six soldiers and established a post 200 metres from the opposing side and under direct observation and fire.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC(P) was the team commander of 51 Special Action Group (51 SAG) deployed at the Taj hotel to rescue the hostages.

In the encounter that followed, he managed to corner all four terrorists to the Ballroom in the northern end of Taj Mahal hotel, single-handedly but sacrificed his life in the course.

The official citation for the Ashoka Chakra Award reads: Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan led the commando operation launched on 27th November 2008 to flush out terrorists from Hotel Taj Mahal, Mumbai in which he rescued 14 hostages.During the operation, his team came under intense hostile fire, in which one of his team members got grievously injured.

Despite his injuries, he continued to fight the terrorists till his last breath.Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan displayed most conspicuous bravery besides camaraderie and leadership of the highest order and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

[30] A bust of Unnikrishnan is installed on Ramamurthy Nagar Outer Ring Road junction in Bangalore and is named in his honour.

[31] There is a bust of Unnikrishnan at the entrance of Indian Education Society on Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, Mumbai.