Mumbai martyr's father gives cold-shoulder to Kerala Chief Minister

Bangalore, Dec.1 : An angry father of slain National Security Guard (NSG) commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan on Monday refused to accept the condolences of Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.

Directing his anger at the politician, K. Unnikrishnan, Sandeep's father asked Achuthanandan to leave his home immediately.

As commandos gunned down the last of the militants on Saturday, ending the gun battle that started late on Wednesday night, local television channels were divided between covering the operations and an outpouring of venom against both the ruling Congress party-led coalition and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Achuthanandan had been criticized for delaying his visit to the bereaved family, hailing from Kerala, but had to face the outburst of the father when he reached the residence.

Reports said the slain commando's father has said that he would not allow any politician to enter his house and would commit suicide if such an attempt is made.

Allegedly, the father also slammed the doors on the face of the security personnel who came with sniffer dogs to 'secure' the place ahead of the chief minister's visit.

A similar incident had surfaced on Saturday when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi went to visit the family of slain Maharashtra anti-terror squad chief Hemant Karkare. Kakare's wife Kavita allegedly refused to accept the compensation offered to her.

There have been growing incidents of anger being directed towards the 'incompetent' politicians not only from the family of those who have died fighting the recent spate of militancy across the country, but also from locals.

The country has seen protests of various kinds in the past few days with locals saying that that the government should use money judiciously for strengthening the country's security instead of wasting it on 'useless things'.

Ten gunmen attacked Mumbai's top two luxury hotels, its biggest railway station and several other landmarks with grenades and assault rifles in a rampage that began on Wednesday night.

The Home Ministry said the official toll in Mumbai was 183 killed. Earlier, Mumbai disaster authorities said at least 195 people had been killed and 295 wounded.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he would boost and overhaul the nation's counter terrorism capabilities, an announcement which came after Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigned over the attacks.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is taking charge as the new Home Minister after Patil's resignation.

New Delhi said it was raising security to a "war level" and had no doubt of a Pakistani link to the attacks, which unleashed anger at home over the intelligence failure and the delayed response to the violence that paralysed Mumbai.

ANI