There is an incredible story behind retired IPS officer Prateep V Philip turning into a motivational speaker and a writer. He had conquered death twice! In his 34 years of service to the nation as an IPS officer, he survived near-death experiences two times, once during his initial training days, and another, while he was on duty on that fateful evening at Sriperumbudur, when a suicide bomber blew herself up, killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the spot. Mr. Phillip got severely injured but managed to survive.
Seeing death from so near and living to tell pushed Mr. Philip, who last served as the Director-General of Police (Training), Tamil Nadu, towards spiritual awakening and he started giving talks and writing on motivational topics.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, he talked about his near-death experiences that changed his life forever.
ENGULFED BY THE SEA
The first experience occurred when Mr. Philip was still a young officer under training. He got caught in a deeper spot in the sea. Before he could be saved, the officer had already drowned and was unconscious.
“A subordinate police officer carried my body. I was dragged to the shore and he declared ‘His story is over.’ My boss at the time, the then SP, cried out loudly, “Oh God!” when he realized that I had no pulse; I wasn’t breathing and my body had become cold. I was almost dead,” Mr. Philip said.
But the SP, Mr. Anoop Jaiswal did not lose hope and tried everything possible, from pumping his chest, to turning him upside down, and to performing CPR on his body. After several minutes of struggle, his effort bore fruits, and he was able to revive the officer, thereby bringing him back from the clutches of death.
RAJIV GANDHI’S ASSASSINATION
The other near-death experience that the officer faced happened on the fateful night of May 21, 1991, when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. The officer was leading the former Prime Minister on the red carpet when the world’s first “human bomb” exploded!
The officer, who was an ASP then, recalled, “It was a scene from hell. There was fire on the red carpet. The body of Shri Rajiv Gandhi was lying akimbo, face down and completely shattered. My face was covered with blood as I touched it. I was going through the worst possible experience in life.”
He further added, “My hand was like a ball, fractured. I did not know my body had been penetrated with 100 steel pellets, with each pellet capable of killing a man. A person with just one pellet injury to the spleen had died. I was going through pain, agony, and shock.”
He was put in the back of a jeep by a police inspector who then returned to help others. Mr. Philip was then admitted to a primary health center where his battle for life began.
He survived with hundreds of steel splinters in his body, multiple fractures, and 20 percent burns, from face to legs. He miraculously recovered from the injuries with no permanent damage to his body, though the process took nearly a year.
“Eighteen people died in the bombing, including my boss. I miraculously survived, though even today, hundreds of steel pellets are pierced inside my body. Even one of them could have killed me that day but now I say I am steel reinforced.”
FRIENDS OF POLICE
These incidents made Mr. Philip realize the power of God and the larger purpose of his life. He understood that his life should not only be limited to promotions and higher postings in police service. God has brought him on Earth for a bigger purpose.
It was a moment of spiritual awakening for him that would lead him towards new turnings and destinations. He started a community policing initiative by the name of ‘Friends of Police’ (FOP) to bridge the gap between common people and the police.
“FOP also means Friends of People, Friends of Poor, Friends of Patients, Friends of Progress, and much more. There are seven dimensions to it. Together, we renew our minds with equilibrium thinking (a new thought process discovered by Mr. Philip) and are always ready to learn and contribute to society,” Mr. Philip said.
The officer retired last year and on his retirement day function, he was permitted by the court to receive back from the TADA court, the bloodstained cap and name badge that he wore on the night of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. The two items were taken as evidence from the site of the blast and were in the custody of the Central Team of Investigation (CBI) till it was returned by the court to him.
About his retirement, the officer proudly states, “I haven’t retired, in fact, I have re-fired!”
Mr. Philip is also a writer and a world record holder. In the second part of his story, we will take a close look at his writings, his books, and his maxims.
