Forged in fire: How Rajiv Gandhi's assassination changed an IPS officer's life

The deadly explosion in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur still echoes in India's collective consciousness. The suicide bomber claimed the life of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi along with 14 other Congress leaders and police officers. Today is Rajiv Gandhi's Death Anniversary. The belt bomb carried by a Sri Lankan Tamil woman changed the political landscape of the country.

The day India lost one of its tallest leaders was a day of rebirth for Dr Prateep V Philip, a Tamil Nadu-cadre IPS officer who traces his roots to Pathanapuram in Kerala. On May 21, 1991, the Additional Superintendent of Police in the Kanchipuram district was on duty providing security to Rajiv Gandhi, who was on a crucial election campaign. He was just three feet away from the former prime minister when the bomb was triggered.

It took him more than a year to recover from the blast which left him with severe burns all over the body. He carries the cursed memories of the day, along with the steel splinters that pierced his body. Philip, now a CB CID director general of police, is a writer and motivational speaker too. He is the author of an Amazon bestseller titled 'Philipism', a collection of aphorisms.

The fateful day

The Chennai suburb refused to shake off the summer heat even after dusk fell. The country was in the middle of a heated election campaign. Rajiv Gandhi's whirlwind tour of the country took him to Chennai as well. Hours earlier, the Congress star campaigner almost cancelled his Chennai trip due to a technical snag in the flight which was supposed to carry him from Visakhapatnam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

He was on the way to the Vishakhapatnam guest house after campaigning in that city when he received a message that the aircraft's problem had been rectified. He reached Chennai around 8.30 pm, two hours behind schedule but still on time for his tragic appointment. He was driven to the campaign venue at Sriperumbudur, 40 kilometres off Chennai.

Philip was one of the officers assigned the security duty of the former prime minister. It was his first posting after the completion of IPS training. He had received a call from Kanchipuram superintendent of police Muhammed Iqbal the day before. The top officer was concerned about a change in the venue of the Congress meeting.

The meeting was originally scheduled to be held at the Sriperumbudur school ground, but it was later shifted to a much bigger temple ground. The superintendent of police told Philip that the new venue was a logistical nightmare and they better stick to the original plan. Philip tried but Congress leaders said that they were expecting tens of thousands of people and they could not be accommodated on the school ground.

Philip immediately called up his superior to apprise him of the situation. The superintendent of police was nonplussed. He said that the organisers should be held responsible for any eventuality. Iqbal was one of the victims of the blast.

Rajiv Gandhi was expected to garland a bust of his mother and predecessor, Indira Gandhi, before walking up to the stage. A police instruction to maintain at least 50 meters of distance between the dais and the audience was also ignored. The event managers did not have enough material to put up cordons. It was a doomed day from the start.

The grip that saved

Kanchipuram was also supposed to host another high-profile leader on the same day. Former chief minister M Karunanidhi was expected to speak in the town to campaign for his party that day. Philip was initially assigned to that meeting but the DMK cancelled the event at the last minute. The additional superintendent of police was asked to go to Sriperumbudur instead.

Philip did his routine prayers, slipped Rs 100 into his uniform pocket for lunch and set out on the most crucial day of his career. He was carrying his favourite baton – the one he bought from Punjab – because he was on VVIP duty. He never let go of the baton even as he was thrown in the air by the explosion. The doctors later told him that the tight grip perhaps lessened the impact on his fingers.

He reached the venue before afternoon. The security arrangements befitted a prime minister. About 250 police officers had been deployed around the venue. A sub inspector, Rajendran, was asked to check on the people who arrived at the venue. The police cleared the vast space behind the stage and asked some Mahila Congress workers not to gather there.

Another sub inspector, Anasuya, even spotted a group of people by the dais minutes before Rajiv Gandhi's arrival. She ordered them to move away. They turned out to be the suicide squad of Tanu, Sivarasan, Nalini and photographer Hari Babu. They were later identified from a photograph.

The car carrying Rajiv Gandhi was supposed to drop him just 100 metres from the dais. About 20 metres short of the dais, Congress leader Latha Kannan and her daughter Kokila Vani waited to receive him. They were on the approved list of people who would garland the leader. Kokila Vani was supposed to welcome the leader with a Hindi song.

The late arrival

Rajiv Gandhi arrived at the Chennai airport around 8.30 pm. He talked to mediapersons at the airport in detail before travelling to Sriperumbudur in a convoy of cars. On the way, he addressed small crowds at Porur and Poonamallee. At 10.10 pm, he got down from his car in Sriperumbudur, garlanded the Indira Gandhi statue and walked up to the dais.

The superintendent of police walked beside him. Additional superintendent of police Philip cleared the way for them. He had made sure that he was keeping a distance of 3 feet from the VVIP as he was told by the SP.

Rajiv Gandhi waved at the crowd and proceeded towards the dais where the other speakers awaited him. He stopped midway to relish the song by Kokila Vani. He congratulated her. Meanwhile, Tanu rushed forward with a sandal garland in hand. Inspector Anasuya blocked her but Rajiv Gandhi told the officer to let her in. Tanu bent over as if to touch the leader's feet in reverence. Rajiv Gandhi bowed too. That was the final moment. Everything vanished into a huge ball of fire.

The bloodbath

The only thing Philip remembered was a deafening noise, like thousands of firecrackers bursting together. He was thrown into the air. When he opened his eyes, he thought he was looking through ripples of water. He realized that his hand was covered in blood and he smelled burnt flesh.

Most of the people had to run for their lives, including some of the policemen. Philip just laid there, waiting for whatever was to come. He was noticed by police inspector Chacko, who he had chided earlier in the day for not checking public smoking by the cops. Chacko ran up to Philip.

Philip said that he could walk but Chacko knew better. The inspector carried Philip into a jeep which was left there. Philip asked about Rajiv Gandhi and Chacko said he was no more.

The additional superintendent's official car was nowhere to be seen. The driver had fled. Chacko found a jeep and left the officer in the back of it before rushing off to rescue the next person. Philip was helped by a stranger, who kept the injured man's head on his lap and offered him water. When Philip asked, the stranger introduced him as Purushothaman. He would never hear from him again.

Steely resolve

Philip was completely bedridden for six months after the explosion. He is still carrying hundreds of splinters from the bomb. He likes to say that those steel splinters have strengthened him. He was one of the major witnesses in all the trials related to the assassination.

In fact, that May evening was not the first time Philip came face to face with death. He was caught in a strong current while swimming in the sea off Thoothukudi during his IPS training. He was unconscious when his colleagues rescued him and brought him to the shore.

The providential escape at Sriperumbudur convinced him that he was destined to something more useful. The unknown stranger who accompanied him from the site of the blast to the hospital inspired Philip to help out others.

Two years later, as a superintendent of police in the Ramnad district, he launched a project – Friends of Police – to bring the force closer to the people. The community policing project received the British Queen's award for creativity in police training.

As an inspector general in the social welfare department, he made headlines by organising 10 lakh tea parties to break the barriers of caste discrimination. He pursued higher studies in the London School of Economics on a Gurukul Chevening scholarship.

Family

Philip is married to Sakhi, an interior designer. They have two daughters, Nimisha Sara Philip and Nishala Isabel Philip.

Philip was motivated to join the civil service by the then Karnataka director general of police Abraham Varghese, who felicitated him when he emerged as the first rank holder in the state higher secondary exams in the state. His father K J Philip was a businessman in Bengaluru. Both K J Philip and wife Thankamma hailed from Pathanapuram.

Philip landed a job with the State Bank of India but he had his eyes firmly set on the civil service. He cracked the exams in 1987.

Every time Philip passes Sriperumbudur, he can't help looking at the Rajiv Gandhi memorial. The place is more than just a tragic reminder for Philip. That is where he found his higher calling.