New Delhi, Nov. 28: Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, 31, knew he would die unless help came, but he didn’t want to risk the lives of others.

So, the 51 Special Group officer of the NSG told his mates not to try to reach the area where he was trapped.

“It’s fantastic, it’s fantastic, it was a gallant act, the supreme sacrifice,” NSG director-general J.K. Dutt saluted his dead officer.

Major Unnikrishnan’s was an act of highest valour, he added.

The officer was deep inside the lower floors of the Taj today when he learnt a havildar had been hit by a terrorist’s bullet.

He reached the injured soldier, not identified by the NSG, and escorted him to a safer area before heading back to the battle zone, where at least three terrorists were firing intermittently from AK-47s and hurling grenades at intervals.

But Sandeep got separated from his team and was caught in a spot where reinforcements were difficult to reach, Dutt said. The major messaged fellow commandos that they should not try to save him because it would be too risky.

It is because of actions such as these that the NSG did not cause a single civilian casualty, a proud Dutt said. No hotel guest or staff was killed by an NSG bullet, he said. “All casualties were caused by terrorists’ bullets. We carried out surgical operations knowing civilians were in danger,” he said.

The priority was to move “patiently” so as not to cause civilian casualties. Had they needed to storm into Nari- man House, Taj or Oberoi, “there was no shortage of my men”, the NSG chief said.

The terrorists were using “not bursts but bullets”, he said, explaining how they had managed to hold out for so long. The attackers were not wasting ammunition, he stressed.

Havildar killed

Havildar Gajinder Singh, 30, was one of the first men to rappel down to the roof of Nariman House from an Mi-17 chopper this morning to rescue the Jewish families being held hostage inside.

Singh and his team had finished securing a floor and would have won a pat on the back had he returned to base.

Instead, he pressed on. “Knowing that in the initial period it is crucial to move forward, he did exactly that. It was a very brave act,” Dutt said.

Havildar Singh was shot dead, leaving the NSG poorer but prouder.

The Centre has decided to send one more contingent of 60 commandos to Mumbai, taking the total number of Black Cats on duty in Mumbai to 447.