Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Bangalore, Nov. 30: Families of the Mumbai martyrs, who faced bullets so their countrymen can be safe, are showing they have no use for beacon-flashing, security-cocooned politicians or their money.

The father of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the National Security Guard commando slain at the Taj, today refused to meet the Kerala chief minister who came knocking at his door in Bangalore, sniffer dog and all.

Yesterday, Kavita Karkare, wife of Maharashtra anti-terror squad chief Hemant Karkare who died battling the militants, had virtually turned Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi away from her doorstep in Mumbai, refusing to accept his offer of a Rs 1-crore compensation.

Modi’s Kerala counterpart, V.S. Achuthanandan, arrived here today with his home minister, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, after being criticised for failing to send any minister to the Kerala-born Sandeep’s funeral here yesterday. Thousands had gathered at the cremation, including Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

But the major’s father, K. Unnikrishnan, would not accept Achuthanandan’s condolences, saying no politician should cross his threshold. Earlier, the retired Isro employee had slammed the door on police sniffer dogs when security personnel arrived to “secure” the place ahead of the VIP visit.

Sources close to the family said the bereaved father even threatened to kill himself if any politician set foot in his house. Unnikrishnan, a Malayali by birth, has told his friends his son did not belong to Kerala alone but to the entire nation.

Police officers eventually persuaded the hero’s mother, Dhanalakshmi, to talk to the guests. Amid continued protests from Unnikrishnan, Balakrishnan mumbled a few words of comfort to Dhanalakshmi, and Achuthanandan followed him.

A spokesman for Achuthanandan said in Thiruvananthapuram that the chief minister’s political secretary had attended the major’s funeral.