Officer wears bloodstained cap and badge on retirement day; they were evidence in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case

Chennai: Wearing the bloodstained cap and badge — evidence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case — on the day of his retirement was a cocktail of emotions, says IPS officer Prateep V Phillip, who survived the ghastly attack that killed the former prime minister in a 1991 election rally near here. The senior official, who retired as DGP (Training) was allowed possession of the cap and badge by a city court recently, allowing him to wear them on his day of retirement. Phillip said he would pen a book on his experiences on the horrendous tragedy at Sriperumbudur on 21 May, 1991, that left at least another 14 dead after a suicide bomber of the LTTE blew herself up. A city civil court granted permission to the IPS officer to wear on the last day of his service, the bloodstained cap and name badge that he wore on duty when the former Prime Minister was assassinated. Phillip then served as Additional Superintendent of Police, Kancheepuram, and survived the human bomb blast that killed Gandhi and others. Phillip sustained injuries in the incident and due to the impact of the blast, his cap and name badge fell down. Since then, his cap and badge, which were part of the evidence from the scene of crime, collected by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), had remained in the custody of the trial court. Few days before his retirement, he moved the First Additional Sessions Court here seeking permission to take possession of the cap and name badge, as they were of “immense sentimental value” to him. The First Additional Sessions judge T Chandrsekharan on 28 September, granted permission for interim custody, on own bond of Rs 1 lakh and ordered they should be handed over to the court on or before 28 October after the purpose was fulfilled. The officer retired on 30 September. The cap and badge literally symbolised his blood, sweat and tears of his professional career which spanned about 34 years, the court further noted. “Holding the cap and badge, in my capacity, at the closure of 34 years of service life, symbolises the trauma I went through, the exhilaration, the law, sadness - a cocktail of emotions. I was the only person on the planet who underwent the ordeal,” Phillip, who retired on Thursday as Director General of Police (DGP), Training, told PTI. The tragedy has transformed his life and perspective so much he resolved to dedicate his entire service life for the cause of the people. “Your life gets transformed and your perspective undergoes changes. The incident (assassination) made me think of what I can do for the people. This changed my career and I never aspired for position or power, but consistently involved in equipping and encouraging people,” Phillip said, adding his sole goal in his service life was to humanise the police force. “Now taking stock after over three decades in service, I still find the Friends of Police (FoP) methodology and concept that I launched (in 1993) transforming countries across geographies,” he claimed. His colleagues appreciated his innovative concept of FoP and said it worked very well. Post retirement, Phillip keeps himself active. He flagged off a run organised in Tenkasi to mark the Quit India Movement. “I ran with the FoP members for a distance of 1.2 km today. Now it is time for Fit and secure India,” he said and added that the letter ‘‘P’’ in FoP can stand for many things including people, peace, progress, principles and police. Asked what it meant to wear the bloodstained cap and the name badge on the last day of his service life, Phillip replied “more than wearing, they symbolised what I stood for and Tamil Nadu police adopted my idea of community policing through the FoP concept. It later spread throughout the country and beyond the borders. My idea influenced different domains throughout the world,” he said. He said he had effectively used the FoP to tackle crimes, drugs and scams and formed even the sea shore committee. “In fact, my magnum opus Fillipisms 3333 Maxims to Maximise Your Life, was born out of my experience in Sriperumbadur. Now the second volume is on the way,” he said. Asked how he would utilise his free time, he replied, “I have a lot to do. I will publish a book on the Sriperumbadur experience. I have already written 30 books containing 1.7 million words and it is in the process of getting published as one volume.”